in
HE
mm
ill
DIQQ
ft5e
Era
i.ff/fj-nfJfr
Wm
IK
'
ZSntskJIn
■■■■'".-':
i MP
;,£.■::. Jft
■£?".'•:■'••'■•■:
-—, Hfc^fc imp mf, JwryPnlWji
B .... ^W-Wt^, .
,J8£»
THE GAME OF GO
Sato Tadanobu, a Samurai of the Twelfth Century, Defending
Himself with a "Goban" when Attacked by His Enemies.
From a print by Kmiiyoshi.
(PAGE s)
THE GAME OF GO
THE
NATIONAL GAME OF JAPAN
BY
ARTHUR SMITH
NEW YORK
MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY
1908
Copyright, 1908
BY
ARTHUR SMITH
NEW YORK
All rights reserved
Published, July, 1908
^
The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
PREFACE
This book is intended as a practical guide to the game
of Go. It is especially designed to assist students of the
game who have acquired a smattering of it in some way and
who wish to investigate it further at their leisure.
As far as I know there is no work in the English
language on the game of Go as played in Japan. There
is an article on the Chinese game by Z. Volpicelli, in Vol.
XXVI of the "Journal of the China Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society." This article I have not consulted. There
is also a short description of the Japanese game in a work
on " Korean Games with Notes on the Corresponding Games
of China and Japan," by Stewart Culin, but this descrip-
tion would be of little practical use in learning to play the
game.
There is, however, an exhaustive treatise on the game
in German by O. Korschelt. This can be found in Parts
^°x 21-24 of the "Mittheilungen der deutschen Gesellschaft
fur Natur- und Volkerkunde Ostasiens." The student could
readily learn the game from Herr Korschelt's article if it
were available, but his work has not been translated, and
it is obtainable only in a few libraries in this country. In
the preparation of this book I have borrowed freely from
Herr Korschelt's work, especially in the chapter devoted
to the history of the game, and I have also adopted many
of his illustrative games and problems.
Herr Korschelt was an excellent player, and acquired
^
vi PREFACE
his knowledge of the game from Murase Shuho, who
was the best player in Japan at the time his article was
written (about 1880).
My acquaintance with the game has been acquired from
Mr. Mokichi Nakamura, a Japanese resident of this coun-
try, who is an excellent player, and whose enthusiasm for
the game led me to attempt this book. Mr. Nakamura has
also supplied much of the material which I have used in
it. Toward the end I have had the expert assistance of Mr.
Jihei Hashiguchi, with whom readers of the New York Sun
are already acquainted.
Wherever possible I have given the Japanese words and
phrases which are used in playing the game, and for those
who are not familiar with the system of writing Japanese
with Roman characters, I may say that the consonants
have the sounds used in English, and the vowels the
sounds that are used in Italian, all the final vowels being
sounded. Thus, "dame" is pronounced as though spelled
"dahmay."
New York, April, 1908.
INTRODUCTION
The game of Go belongs to the class of games of
which our Chess, though very dissimilar, is an example. It
is played on a board, and is a game of pure skill, into which
the element of chance does not enter; moreover, it is an
exceedingly difficult game to learn, and no one can expect
to acquire the most superficial knowledge of it without
many hours of hard work. It is said in Japan that a player
with ordinary aptitude for the game would have to play
ten thousand games in order to attain professional rank of
the lowest degree. When we think that it would take twenty-
seven years to play ten thousand games at the rate of one
game per day, we can get some idea of the Japanese esti-
mate of its difficulty. The difficulty of the game and the
remarkable amount of time and labor which it is necessary
to expend in order to become even a moderately good player,
are the reasons why Go has not spread to other countries
since Japan has been opened to foreign intercourse. For
the same reasons few foreigners who live there have become
familiar with it.
On the other hand, its intense interest is attested by
the following saying of the Japanese: "Go uchi wa oya no
shini me ni mo awanu," which means that a man playing
the game would not leave off even to be present at the death-
bed of a parent. I have found that beginners in this coun-
try to whom I have shown the game always seem to find it
interesting, although so far I have known no one who has
viii INTRODUCTION
progressed beyond the novice stage. The more it is played
the more its beauties and opportunities for skill become
apparent, and it may be unhesitatingly recommended to
that part of the community, however small it may be, for
whom games requiring skill and patience have an attrac-
tion.
It is natural to compare it with our Chess, and it may
safely be said that Go has nothing to fear from the com-
parison. Indeed, it is not too much to say that it presents
even greater opportunities for foresight and keen analysis.
The Japanese also play Chess, which they call "Shogi,"
but it is slightly different from our Chess, and their game
has not been so well developed.
Go, on the other hand, has been zealously played and
scientifically developed for centuries, and as will appear
more at length in the chapter on the History of the Game,
it has, during part of this time, been recognized and fostered
by the government. Until recently a systematic treatment
of the game, such as we are accustomed to in our books on
Chess, has been lacking in Japan. A copious literature
had been produced, but it consisted mostly of collections
of illustrative and annotated games, and the Go masters
seem to have had a desire to make their marginal annota-
tions as brief as possible, in order to compel the beginner
to go to the master for instruction and to learn the game
only by hard practice.
Chess and Go are both in a sense military games,
but the military tactics that are represented in Chess are
of a past age, in which the king himself entered the conflict
— his fall generally meaning the loss of the battle — and in
which the victory or defeat was brought about by the cour-
INTRODUCTION ix
age of single noblemen rather than through the fighting
of the common soldiers.
Go, on the other hand, is not merely a picture of a
single battle like Chess, but of a whole campaign of a mod-
ern kind, in which the strategical movements of the masses
in the end decide the victory. Battles occur in various parts
of the board, and sometimes several are going on at the
game time. Strong positions are besieged and captured,
and whole armies are cut off from their line of communica-
tions and are taken prisoners unless they can fortify them-
selves in impregnable positions, and a far-reaching strategy
alone assures the victory.
It is difficult to say which of the two games gives more
pleasure. The combinations in Go suffer in comparison
with those of Chess by reason of a certain monotony,
because there are no pieces having different movements,
and because the stones are not moved again after once being
placed on the board. Also to a beginner the play, especially
in the beginning of the game, seems vague; there are so
many points on which the stones may be played, and the
amount of territory obtainable by one move or the other
seems hopelessly indefinite. This objection is more appar-
ent than real, and as one's knowledge of the game grows,
it becomes apparent that the first stones must be played
with great care, and that there are certain definite, advan-
tageous positions, which limit the player in his choice of
moves, just as the recognized Chess openings guide our
play in that game. Stones so played in the opening are
called "Joseki" by the Japanese. Nevertheless, I think
that in the early part of the game the play is somewhat
indefinite for any player of ordinary skill. On the other
x INTRODUCTION
hand, these considerations are balanced by the greater
number of combinations and by the greater number of places
on the board where conflicts take place. As a rule it may
be said that two average players of about equal strength
will find more pleasure in Go than in Chess, for in
Chess it is almost certain that the first of two such players
who loses a piece will lose the game, and further play is
mostly an unsuccessful struggle against certain defeat. In
Go, on the other hand, a severe loss does not by any
means entail the loss of the game, for the player temporarily
worsted can betake himself to another portion of the field
where, for the most part unaffected by the reverse already
suffered, he may gain a compensating advantage.
A peculiar charm of Go lies in the fact that through
the so-called "Ko" an apparently severe loss may often
be made a means of securing a decisive advantage in
another portion of the board. A game is so much the
more interesting the oftener the opportunities for victory
or defeat change, and in Chess these chances do not change
often, seldom more than twice. In Go, on the other
hand, they change much more frequently, and sometimes
just at the end of the game, perhaps in the last moments,
an almost certain defeat may by some clever move be changed
into a victory.
There is another respect in which Go is distinctly
superior to Chess. That is in the system of handicapping.
When handicaps are given in Chess, the whole opening is
more or less spoiled, and the scale of handicaps, from the
Bishop's Pawn to Queen's Rook, is not very accurate; and
in one variation of the Muzio gambit, so far from being a
handicap, it is really an advantage to the first player to give
INTRODUCTION xi
up the Queen's Knight. In Go, on the other hand, the
handicaps are in a progressive scale of great accuracy, they
have been given from the earliest times, and the openings
with handicaps have been studied quite as much as those
without handicaps.
In regard to the time required to play a game of Go,
it may be said that ordinary players finish a game in an
hour or two, but as in Chess, a championship game may
be continued through several sittings, and may last eight
or ten hours. There is on record, however, an authentic
account of a game that was played for the championship
at Yeddo during the Shogunate, which lasted continuously
nine days and one night.
Before taking up a description of the board and stones
and the rules of play, we will first outline a history of the
?a me.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction vii
CHAPTER I
History of the Game i
CHAPTER II
Description of the Board and Stones 18
CHAPTER III
Rules of Play 26
CHAPTER IV
General Methods of Play and Terminology of the Game . 57
CHAPTER V
Illustrative Games 68
CHAPTER VI
"Joseki" and Openings . 119
CHAPTER VII
The End Game 186
CHAPTER VIII
Problems 201
xm
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Sato Tadanobu, a Samurai of the Twelfth Century,
defending himself with a "goban," when attacked
by his enemies Frontispiece
Playing Go 22
HISTORY OF THE GAME
The game of Go is probably the oldest of all known
games. It was played by the Chinese from earliest antiq-
uity, and has been played in its present form by the Japa-
nese for over eleven centuries, but while the game originated
in China, the Japanese have far surpassed the Chinese in
skill at the game, and it has come to be regarded in Japan
as their national game.
In the old Chinese works three persons are named as
the originators of the game, but in Japan its invention is
commonly attributed to only one of these. This man is
the Chinese emperor Shun, who reigned from 2255 to 2206
B.C. It is said that this emperor invented the game in order
to strengthen the weak mind of his son Shang Kiun. By
others the invention of the game is attributed to the pre-
decessor of Shun, the emperor Yao, who reigned from 2357
to 2256 B.C. If this theory is correct it would make the game
about forty-two hundred years old. The third theory is
that Wu, a vassal of the Chinese emperor Kieh Kwei (1818-
1767 B.C.) invented the game of Go. To the same man
is often attributed the invention of games of cards. It
would seem that this last theory is the most credible, be-
cause it would make the invention more recent, and because
the inventor is said to have been a vassal and not an emperor.
Whatever may be the truth in regard to the origin of the
iiJ'i :..:/:..': THE GAME OF GO
game, it is perfectly certain that Go was already known
in China in early antiquity. In " old Chinese works, of
which the oldest is dated about a thousand years before
Christ, a game which can be easily recognized as Go is
mentioned casually, so that at that time it must have been
well known.
• We are told also that in China somewhere about 200
B.C., poetry and Go went hand in hand, and were in
high favor, and a poet, Bayu, who lived about the year
240 a.d., made himself famous through poems in which
he sang the praises of the game.
It is remarkable that in the old books it is stated that
in the year 300 a.d. a man by the name of Osan was so
skilled in Go that he could take all the stones from the
board after the game had been finished and then play it
over from memory. This is of interest also as showing that
in the course of time playing the game has had the effect
of strengthening the memory of Go players, because there
are now hundreds of players in Japan who can replace
a game move for move after it has been disarranged. It
is in fact the customary thing for a teacher of the game to
play the game over in that way in order to criticise the moves
made by the student.
Anecdotes have come down to us from the old Chinese
times in regard to the game, of which we will mention only
one, which shows how highly it was esteemed.
Sha An, a man who lived in the time of the Tsin Dynasty
(265-419 a.d.), carried on a war with his nephew Sha Gen.
Growing tired of taking life, they left the victory to be de-
cided by a game of Go, which they played against each
other.
HISTORY OF THE. GAME 3
The esteem in which players were held in the old Chi-
nese times is also shown by the titles with which they were
honored; to wit, "Kisei" or " Ki Shing," from "Ki," mean-
ing Go, and "Sei," a holy man, and "Shing," magician or
sage.
In the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-906 a.d.), and
again during the' Sung Dynasty (960-1126 a.d.), the first
books about Go were written. The game then flour-
ished in China, and there were then many distinguished
players in that country.
According to the Japanese reckoning of time, Go
was introduced into Japan in the period Tern pyo, during
the reign of the emperor Shomu, which according to the
Chinese records was the thirteenth year of the period Tien
Tao, and during the reign of the emperor Huan Tsung.
According to our calendar this would be about the year
735 A-D-
A man otherwise well known in the history of Japan,
Kibi Daijin, was sent as an envoy to China in that year,
and it is said that he brought the game back with him to
Japan.
Go may have been known in Japan before that date,
but at any rate it must have been known about this time,
for in the seventh month of the tenth year of the period Tern
pyo (a.d. 738), we are told that a Japanese nobleman
named Kumoshi was playing Go with another noble-
man named Adzumabito, and that in a quarrel resulting
from the pame Kumoshi killed Adzumabito with his sword.
On its introduction into "japan a new era opened in
the development of the game, but at first it spread very .
slowly, and it is mentioned a hundred years later that the
4 THE GAME OF GO
number of Go players among the nobility (and to them
the knowledge of the game was entirely confined) was very
small indeed.
In the period called Kasho (848-851 a.d.), and in Nin
Ju (851-854 a.d.), a Japanese prince dwelt in China, and
was there taught the game by the best player in China.
The following anecdote is told in regard to this prince:
that in order to do him honor the Chinese allowed him to
meet the best players, and in order to cope with them he
hit upon the idea of placing his stones exactly in the same
way as those of his opponent; that is to say, when his oppo-
nent placed a stone at any point, he would place his stone
on a point symmetrically opposite, and in that way he is
said to have won. In regard to this anecdote it may be
said that the Chinese must have been very weak players,
or they would speedily have found means of overcoming
this method of defense.
We next hear that in the year 850 a Japanese named
Wakino became famous as a great devotee of the game. He
played continuously day and night, and became so engrossed
in the game that he forgot everything else absolutely.
In the. next two centuries the knowledge of the game
did not extend beyond the court at Kioto. Indeed, it
appears that it was forbidden to play Go anywhere else
than at court. At all events we are told that in the period
called Otoku (1084-1087 a.d.) the Prince of Dewa, whose
name was Kiowara no Mahira, secretly introduced the
game into the province of Oshu, and played there with his
vassals. From that time not only the number of the nobil-
ity who played the game increased rapidly, but the common
people as well began to take it up.
HISTORY OF THE GAME 5
Our frontispiece illustrates an incident which is said to
have occurred about this time in the city of Kamakura.
A samurai named Sato Tadanobu, who was a vassal of
Yoshitsune, a brother of Yoritomo, the first Shogun of
Japan, was playing Go in his house when he was sud-
denly attacked by his enemies, and he is depicted using the
"Goban" as a weapon wherewith to defend himself. The
print is by Kuniyoshi, and is one of a series the title of
which might be translated as "Our Favorite Hero Series."
The "Go ban," "Go ishi," and "Go tsubo" look precisely
like those which are at present in use, but Kuniyoshi prob-
ably represented the type in use in his day and not in the
time of Yoritomo, as it is pretty well settled that in the
early times the board was smaller.
There is also a story which comes down from the Kama-
kura period in regard to Hojo Yoshitoki. He is said to
have been playing Go with a guest at the moment that
news arrived of the uprising of Wada Yoshimori. Yoshitoki
is said to have first finished the game in perfect calmness
before he thought of his measures for subduing the revolu-
tion. This was in the first year of Kempo, or 12 13 a.d.
In the beginning of the thirteenth century we find that
Go was widely known in the samurai class, and was
played with zeal. At that time everybody who went to
war, from the most famous general down to the meanest
soldier, played the game. The board and stones were
carried with them to the field of battle, and as soon as the
battle was over, they were brought out, and the friendly
strife began. Many of the monks and poets of that period
also had a taste for Go, and several of them are men-
tioned as celebrated Go players.
6 THE GAME OF GO
All three of the great Japanese generals, Nobunaga,
Hideyoshi, and Iyeyasu, were devotees of the game. It is
related that Nobunaga came to Kioto in the tenth year of
Ten Sho, 1582 a.d., and lived in the Honnoji Temple.
One night the celebrated Go player, Sansha, of whom
more hereafter, came and played with him until midnight.
Sansha had scarcely taken his departure when the uprising
of Akechi Mitsuhide broke out.
In the periods Genki (1570-1572), Ten Sho (1573-1591)
until Keicho (1596-1614), and Gen Wa (1615-1623), there
were many celebrated players among the monks, poets,
farmers and tradespeople. They were called to the courts
of the daimios and to the halls of the nobles, either in order
that the nobility might play with them, or more frequently
merely to exhibit their skill at the game. This custom
existed up to the time of the fall of the Shogunate.
That the Japanese could find pleasure in merely watch-
ing a game that is so abstract in its nature and so difficult
to understand is evidence of the fact that they were then a
highly cultivated people intellectually. We find nothing
like it in this country except in the narrowest Chess circles.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century Go
attained such a high development that there appeared a
series of expert players who far surpassed anything known
before. Of these the most famous were Honinbo Sansha
Hoin? Nakamura Doseki, Hayashi Rigen, Inouye Inseki,
and Yasui Santetsu.
Sansha was the son of a merchant of Kioto. When he
was nine years old he shaved his head, named himself
Nikkai, and became a Buddhist monk in the Temple of
Shokokuji, which was one of the principal temples of the
HISTORY OF THE GAME 7
Nichi Ren sect in Kioto. From his early life Sansha was
very skilful at the game, and upon giving up his profession
as a monk, he -obtained permission to institute a school of
Go players, and he then took the name of Honinbo San-
sha. He was on terms of familiar intercourse with No-
bunaga, Hideyoshi and Iyeyasu, often accompanied them
on their travels and campaigns, and was present at many
of the battles of that troublous epoch.
The school of Go which Honinbo opened, however,
was merely a private undertaking. The first State institu-
tion in which Go was taught was founded by Hideyoshi
in the period Ten Sho (1573—159 1), but it seems to have
had a short existence, and the permanent institution which
lasted until the fall of the Shogunate was founded by the
successor of Hideyoshi, Iyeyasu. Iyeyasu became Shogun
in the year 1603, and the foundation of the Go Academy
or "Go In," as the Japanese call it, must have occurred
soon after he ascended the throne. Honinbo Sansha, who
was still the best Go player in japan, was named as
the head of the institution. The other most skilful masters
were installed as professors with good salaries. To Honinbo
Sansha, the director, was given 350 tsubo of land (a tsubo
is as big as two Japanese mats or tatami, and is therefore
six feet square), and an annual revenue of 200 koku of rice
(a koku is a little more than five bushels). Men of the best
intelligence could now dedicate themselves to the education
of students and the further development of the game, freed
from the cares of earning a livelihood. In both respects
the institute was eminently successful. Its graduates were
much more skilful than the previous generation of Go
players living in the land. They devoted themselves en-
8 THE GAME OF GO
tirely to the game, and either found positions as players at
the court of a daimio, or traveled through the country
(like the poets and swordsmen of that period), playing the
game and giving instruction in its mysteries as they found
opportunity. If they came to a place which pleased them,
they often let their years of wandering come to an end and
remained there, making their living as teachers of the game.
At the time of the founding of the Academy, besides
Honinbo, the previously mentioned masters, Hayashi,
Inouye, and Yasui, were installed as professors. For some
reason, Nakamura, who is mentioned above as one of the
contemporaries of Honinbo, did not appear at the Academy.
Each of the four masters above named founded his school
or method of play independently of the others, and the cus-
tom existed that each teacher adopted his best pupil as a
son, and thus had a successor at his death; so the teachers
in the Academy were always named Honinbo, Inouye,
Hayashi, and Yasui. (Lovers of Japanese prints are al-
ready familiar with this continued similarity of names.)
The best players of the Academy had to appear every
year before the Shogun and play for his amusement. This
ceremony was called "Go zen Go," which means "playing
the game in the august presence," or "O shiro Go," "Shiro"
meaning "the honorable palace," and the masters of the
game entered these contests with the same determination
that was displayed by the samurai on the field of battle.
An anecdote has come down to us from the reign of the
third Shogun, Tokugawa Iyemitsu, showing how highlv
the Go masters regarded their art. At that time Yasui
Sanchi was " Meijin," which, as we shall see in a moment,
meant the bighest rank in the Go world, while Honinbo
HISTORY OF THE GAME 9
Sanyetsu held the rank of "Jo zu," which was almost as
high, but which, according to the rules, would entitle him
to a handicap of one stone from his expert adversary;
and these two men, being the best players, were selected
to play in the Shogun's presence. Honinbo, feeling con-
scious of his skill, disdained to accept the handicap, and
met his adversary on even terms. The game was proceed-
ing in the presence of the court nobles before the Shogun
had appeared, and among the spectators was Matsudaira
Higo no Kami, one of the most powerful noblemen of that
epoch. Yasui Sanchi was a favorite of Matsudaira and
as he watched the play he remarked audibly that Honinbo
would surely be defeated. Honinbo Sanyetsu heard the
remark, and pausing in his play, he allowed the stone which
he was about to place on the board to fall back into the
"Go tsubo" or wooden jar that holds the Go stones,
gently covered the "Go tsubo," and drawing himself up
with great dignity, said: "I am serving the Shogun with
the art of Go, and when we Go masters enter a contest,
it is in the same spirit as warriors go upon the field of battle,
staking our life, if necessary, to decide the contest. While
we are doing this we do not allow interference or comments
from any one, no matter how high may be his rank. Al-
though I am not the greatest master of the game, I hold the
degree of ' Jo zu,' and, therefore, there are few players in
Japan who are able to appreciate my plans, tactics, or strat-
egy. Nevertheless, the Prince of Higo has unwarrantedly
prophesied my defeat. I do not understand why he has
done this, but if such a comment were allowed to become
a precedent, and onlookers were permitted to make what-
ever comments on the game they saw fit, it would be better
io THE GAME OF GO
that the custom of the 'O shiro Go' should cease." Having
said this, he raised himself from his seat. At this moment
the court officers announced the coming of the Shogun, and
the noblemen who had assembled to see the contest, sur-
prised and confused by the turn affairs had taken, earnestly
persuaded Honinbo to reseat himself and continue the game.
This he obstinately refused to do, and endeavored to leave
the imperial chamber. Prince Matsudaira, taken aback,
scarcely knew what to do. However, he kotowed to Honinbo
and, profusely apologizing, besought the offended master
to finish the contest. Honinbo Sanyetsu was appeased,
and resumed his seat at the board, and both players, groused
by the incident, exerted every effort to achieve victory.
Honinbo Sanyetsu won, whereupon the Prince of Higo was
greatly humiliated. Since then the name of Sanyetsu Has
always been revered as one of the greatest of the Honinbo
family.
In the degenerate days toward the end of the Tokugawa
Dynasty the "Go zen Go" became a mere farce, and the
games were all played through and studied out beforehand,
in order that the ceremony in court might not last too long.
The custom was, however, maintained until the fall of the
Shogunate in 1868.
Honinbo Sansha established at the time of the founda-
tion of the Academy a method of classifying the players
by giving them degrees, which still exists, although no
longer under the authority of the State. When a man
attained to a certain measure of skill in the game he received
the title "Shodan," or, of the first degree. The still stronger
players were arranged as "Nidan," "Sandan," "Yodan,"
etc., or of the second, third, and fourth degrees. The high-
HISTORY OF THE GAME n
est degree in the series was "Kudan," or the ninth degree.
In order to attain the first degree, or "Shodan," the candi-
date must be an excellent player, so good in fact that he
could follow the game as a profession. In other games
such a graduated system of classifying players would be
scarcely possible, but among good Go players it is
feasible, because the better player almost invariably wins,
even if he be but slightly superior. If the difference in
skill could not be equalized in some way the game would
become tiresome, as the weaker player would almost always
be able to foresee his defeat. The stronger player, therefore,
allows his adversary to place enough stones on the board
as a handicap to make the adversaries approximately equal.
According to the rules of the Academy,. if the difference
between the skill of the players was only one degree, the
weaker player would be allowed the first move. If the differ-
ence was two degrees, the weaker player would be allowed
to place a stone on the board, and the stronger player would
have the first move, and so on; in other words, the differ-
ence between each degree might be called half a stone.
Thus, a player of the fourth degree would allow a player
of the first degree to place two stones on the board as a
handicap, but would have the first move. A player of the
seventh degree would allow a player of the first degree three
stones, and a player of the ninth degree would allow a player
of the first degree four stones. Four was the highest handi-
cap allowed among the players holding degrees, but, as we
shall see later, among players of less skill greater handicaps
are frequently given.
A player of the seventh degree also received the honor-
ary title "Jo zu," or the higher hand. Those of the eighth
iz THE GAME OF GO
rank were called " Kan shu," or the half-way step, and
those of the ninth degree were called "Mei shu," the clear,
bright hand, or "Mei jin," literally "celebrated man." It
is related that this last appellation arose in- the time of No-
bunaga, who was a spectator of a game played by Honinbo
Sansha with some contemporary, and who expressed his
admiration of the skill of Honinbo by exclaiming "Mei
jin!" which thus became the title applied to players of the
highest skill.
Since the institution of this method of classifying Go
players over three hundred years ago, there have been only
nine players who have attained the ninth degree, and only
fourteen players who have attained the eighth degree. On
the other hand, there have been many more of the seventh,
and many more still of each of the lower degrees. In 1880,
at the time Korschelt wrote the article previously referred
to, there was only one player in Japan holding the seventh
degree, and that was the celebrated Murase Shuho. At
present there is one player who holds the ninth degree.
His name is Honinbo Shuyei, and he is the only player
who has attained the ninth degree during the period called
the "Meiji," or since the fall of the Shogunate forty years
ago.
This arrangement of the players in degrees is unknown
in China and Korea. On the other hand, it is in use in
the Ryukyu or Loochoo Islands.
The Japanese seem to have regarded the classification in
degrees as an absolute standard of measurement. Never-
theless, it must necessarily have varied from time to time,
and in the course of centuries the standard must gradually
have risen.
HISTORY OF THE GAME 13
Players of high rank who are challenged by the im-
proving players of the lower grades will instinctively desire
to make it more difficult for the new players to attain the
higher degree, because their own fame, which is their
highest possession, depends upon the result of the game;
and assuming that all trial games could be conducted in an
impartial and judicial spirit, nevertheless, all the players
would become more expert from the hard practice, even
if their skill in relation to each other remained the same.
Thus a seventh degree player of to-day would be better
in a year although he still remained in the seventh degree,
and this constant raising of the standard must lead us to
suppose that a player of the seventh degree now is quite
equal or perhaps superior to an eighth or ninth degree
player of a hundred or two hundred years ago. As an illus-
tration of this increase in skill, we only have to compare
the standard set in the Ryukyu Islands. They also estab-
lished the classification in degrees soon after the foundation
of the Academy in japan, and then the two institutions
seem to have lost touch. Korschelt relates that for the first
time about the year 1880 a Go player of the second degree
from the Satsuma province visited those Islands and tried
his skill with their best players, and found that he could
easily defeat the players there classified as of the fifth degree.
The position as head of the Academy was much
coveted by Go players, but it was generally held by
the Honinbo family. One of the last incidents in relation
to the Academy tells of an attempt on the part of Inouye
Inseki, the eleventh of that line, to obtain the headship of
the Academy when Honinbo Jowa, who was the twelfth
Honinbo, retired. Inseki was afraid he could not obtain
i4 THE GAME OF GO
the coveted position by a contest, and therefore strove to
obtain it by intrigue from the Shogun's officer intrusted with
the business of the Academy. When Jowa retired he was
not unaware of the desires of Inseki, but it did not trouble
him much, as he felt confident that the fourteenth Honinbo,
whose name was Shuwa, could successfully defend his
title. However, at last matters came to such a point that
Jowa ordered Shuwa to present a petition to the Shogun
requesting that the title be settled by contest, but the Sho-
gun's officer, who was in league with Inseki, returned the
petition, whereupon all of the Honinbo house rose and in-
sisted on their rights in accordance with custom and pre-
cedent, and at last their petition was granted. It was fixed
that the title was to be decided by ten games, and the first
game began at the residence of the Shogun's officer, Inaba
Tango no Kami, on the 29th of November, in the eleventh
year of Tempo (about sixty-six years ago), and it ended
the same year on the 13th of December. There was an
adjournment of four days, and on one occasion the contest
lasted all night. Therefore in all it took nine days and one
night to finish the game.
It is unnecessary to say that both players put forth all
their efforts in this life and death struggle, and it is said
that Inseki's excitement was so intense as to cause blood
to gush from his mouth, but he finally lost by four stones,
and the other nine games were not played. Inseki, how-
ever, mortified by his defeat, again challenged Shuwa.
This game began on the 16th of May in the thirteenth year
of Tempo, and lasted two days. Inseki again lost by six
stones. On November 17th of the same year a third con-
test took place between Shuwa and Inseki in the presence
HISTORY OF THE GAME 15
of the Shogun in his palace at Tokio. Inseki again lost by
four stones. In all these contests Inseki as the challenger
had the first move, and he finally became convinced of his
inability to win from the scion of the Honinbo family, and
abandoned his life-long desire, and it is related that there-
upon the houses of Honinbo and Inouye became more
friendly than ever.
In the first half of the nineteenth century Go had a
period of great development. This occurred according to
the Japanese calendar in the periods called Bun Kwa (1804-
1818), Bun Sei (1818-1829), and Tempo (1830-1844).
The collection of specimen games of that time are to-day
regarded as models, and the methods of play and of opening
the game then in use are still studied, although they have
been somewhat superseded. The best games were played
by the Honinbos Dosaku and Jowa and Yasui Sanchi.
On the fall of the Shogunate in the year 1868 the Go
Academy came to an end, and with it the regulation of the
game by the State. A few years later the daimios were
dispossessed, and they did not feel an obligation as private
individuals to retain the services of the Go players who
had been in attendance at their courts. Thereupon ensued
a sad time for the masters of the game, who had thereto-
fore for the most part lived by the practice of their art, and
to make things still worse, the Japanese people lost their
interest in Go. Upon the opening of the country the
people turned with enthusiasm to the foreigners. Foreign
things were more prized than native things, and among the
things of native origin the game of Go was neglected.
About the year 1880, however, a reaction set in; inter-
est in the old national game was revived, and at the present
16 THE GAME OF GO
day it is fostered with as much zeal as in the olden
times.
Most of the higher officials of the government, and also
the officers in the army and navy, are skilled players. The
great daily newspapers of the capitals have a Go depart-
ment, just as some of our periodicals have a department
devoted to Chess, and the game is very much played at the
hot springs and health resorts, and clubs, and teachers of
the art are found in all of the larger cities. Go has
always retained something of its early aristocratic character,
and in fact, it is still regarded as necessary lor a man of
refinement to possess a certain skill at the game.
During the recent Russo-Japanese War the strategy
employed by the Japanese commanders certainly suggested
the methods of play used in the game of Go. Whether
this was an accidental resemblance or not I cannot say.
At Liao Yang it seemed as if Marshal Oyama had got three
of the necessary stones advantageously placed, but the
Russians escaped before the fourth could be moved into
position. At the final battle of Mukden the enveloping
strategy characteristic of the game was carried out with
still greater success.
At the present time the division into the four schools of
Honinbo, Inouye. Hayashi, and Yasui, no longer exists,
and Go players are divided into the schools of Honinbo
and Hoyensha. This latter school was established about
the year 1880 by Murase Shuho, to whom reference has
already been made.
The Honinbo school is the successor of the old Academy,
while the new school has made one or two innovations, one
of the most fortunate being a rule that no game shall last
HISTORY OF THE GAME 17
longer than twenty-four hours without interruption. The
Hoyensha school also recognized the degree " Inaka Sho-
dan," which means the "first degree in the country," and
is allowed to a class of players who are regarded as entitled
to the first degree in their native town, but who are generally
undeceived when they meet the recognized "Shodan"
players of the metropolis.
While in Japan Go has attained such a high devel-
opment, largely through the help of the government, as
has been shown, it seems to be decadent in its motherland
of China. The Japanese players assure us that there is
no player in China equal to a Japanese player of the first
degree. In Korea also the game is played, but the skill
there attained is also immensely below the Japanese stand-
ard.
Having now given an idea of the importance of the game
in the eyes of the Japanese, and the length of time it has
been played, we will proceed to a description of the board
and stones, and then take up the details of the play.
II
DESCRIPTION OF THE BOARD AND STONES
The board, or "Go Ban" as it is called in Japanese,
is a solid block of wood, about seventeen and a half inches
long, sixteen inches broad, and generally about four or five
inches thick. It has four detachable feet or legs so that as
it stands on the floor it is about eight inches high. The
board and feet are always stained yellow.
The best boards in Japan are made of a wood called
"Kaya" (Torreya Nuafera) a species of yew. They are
also made of a wood called "Icho" or Gingko (Sahsburia
adiantifolia) and of "Hinoki" (Thuya Obtusa) a kind of
cedar. At all events they must be of hard wood, and yet
not so hard as to be unpleasant to the touch when the stone
is placed on the board, and the wood must further have
the quality of resonance, because the Japanese enjoy hear-
ing the sound made by the stone as it is played, and they
always place it on the board with considerable force when
space will permit. The Japanese expression for playing
Go, to wit, "Go wo utsu," literally means to "strike"
Go, referring to the impact of the stone. In Korea this
feature is carried to such an extreme that wires are
stretched beneath the board, so that as a stone is played
a distinct musical sound is produced. The best boards
should, of course, be free from knots, and the grain should
run diagonally across them.
DESCRIPTION OF BOARD AND STONES 19
In the back of the board there is cut a square depres-
sion. The purpose of this is probably to make the block
more resonant, although the old Japanese stories say that
this depression was put there originally to receive the blood
of the vanquished in case the excitement of the game led
to a sanguinary conflict.
The legs of the board are said to be shaped to resemble
the fruit of the plant called "Kuchinashi" or Cape Jessa-
mine {Gardenia floribunda), the name of which plant by
accident also means "without a mouth," and this is sup-
posed to suggest to onlookers that they refrain from making
comments on the game (a suggestion which all Chess play-
ers will appreciate).
On the board, parallel with each edge, are nineteen
thin, lacquered black lines. These lines are about four
one-hundredths of an inch wide. It has been seen from
the dimensions given that the board is not exactly square,
and the field therefore is a parallelogram, the sides of which
are sixteen and a half and fifteen inches long respectively,
and the lines in one direction are a little bit farther apart
than in the other. These lines, by their crossing, produce
three hundred and sixty-one points of intersection, inclu-
ding the corners and the points along the edge of the
field.
The stones are placed on these points of intersection,
and not in the spaces as the pieces are in Chess or Checkers.
These intersections are called "Me" or "Moku" in Jap-
anese, which really means "an eye." Inasmuch as the
word as used in this connection is untranslatable, I shall
hereafter refer to these points of intersection by their Jap-
anese name.
20 THE GAME OF GO
On the board, as shown in the diagram (Plate i), are
nine little circles. It is on these circles that the handicap
stones when given are placed. They have no other func-
tion in the game, but they are supposed also to have some
sort of symbolical meaning. Chamberlain states that
these spots or "Seimoku" are supposed to represent the
chief celestial bodies, and that the central one is called
"Taikyoku"; that is, the primordial principle of the uni-
verse. In the work of Stewart Culin referred to in the
preface it is stated that they correspond to the nine lights
of heaven — the sun, moon and the seven stars of the
constellation "Tau" (Ursa Major). Indeed the whole
arrangement of the board is said to have some symbolical
significance, the number of crosses (exclusive of the cen-
tral one) representing the three hundred and sixty degrees
of latitude, and the number of white and black stones cor-
responding to the number of days of the year; but nowa-
days the Japanese do not make much of a point of
the astronomical significance of the board or of the "Sei-
moku."
The stones or "Ishi" with which the game is played
are three hundred and sixty-one in number, corresponding
to the number of "Me" or points of intersection on the
board. One hundred and eighty of these stones are white
and the remaining one hundred and eighty-one are black.
As the weaker player has the black stones and the first
move, obviously the extra stone must be black. In prac-
tice the entire number of stones is never used, as at the end
of the game there are always vacant spaces on the board.
The Japanese generally keep these stones in gracefully
shaped, lacquered boxes or "Go tsubo."
DESCRIPTION OF BOARD AND STONES 21
it
■> —
/
Plate I
The Board Showing the " Seimoku.
i/7'^-
22 THE GAME OF GO
The white stones are made of a kind of white shell; they
are highly polished, and are exceedingly pleasant to the
touch. The best come from the provinces of Hitachi and
Mikawa. The black are made of stone, generally a kind
of slate that comes from the Nachi cataract in Kishiu.
As they are used they become almost jet-black, and they are
also pleasant to the touch, but not so much so as the white.
A good set is quite dear, and cannot be purchased under
several yen. The ideograph formerly used for "Go ishi"
indicates that originally they were made of wood, and not
of stone, and the old Chinese ideograph shows that in
that country they were wooden pieces painted black and
white. The use of polished shell for the white stones was
first introduced in the Ashikaga period.
In form the stones are disk-shaped, but not always ex-
actly round, and are convex on both surfaces, so that they
tremble slightly when placed on the board. They are
about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and about
one-eighth of an inch in thickness. The white stones are
generally a trifle larger than the black ones; for some
strange reason those of both colors are a little bit wider
than they should be in order to fit the board. Korschelt
carefully measured the stones which he used, and found
that the black were seventeen-sixteenths of the distance
between the vertical lines on his board, and about eighteen-
nineteenths of the distance between the horizontal lines,
while the white stones were thirteen-twelfths of the distance
between the vertical lines and thirty-six thirty-sevenths
of the distance between the horizontal lines. I found about
the same relation of size in the board and stones which
I use.
Pn
DESCRIPTION OF BOARD AND STONES 23
The result of this is that the stones do not have quite
room enough and lap over each other, and when the board
is very full, they push each other out of place. To make
matters still worse the Japanese are not very careful to put
the stones exactly on the points of intersection, but place
them carelessly, so that the board has an irregular ap-
pearance. It is probable that the unsymmetrical shape of
the board and the irregularity of the size of the stones
arise from the antipathy that the Japanese have to exact
symmetry. At any rate, it is all calculated to break up the
monotonous appearance which the board would have if the
spaces were exactly square, and the stones were exactly
round and fitted properly in their places.
In Japan the board is placed on the floor, and the players
sit on the floor also, facing each other, as shown in the
illustration, and generally the narrower side of the board is
placed so as to face the players. Since the introduction of
tables in Japan Go boards are also made thinner and
without feet, but the game seems to lose some of its
charm when the customs of the old Japan are departed
from.
The Japanese always take the stone between the middle
and index fingers, and not between the thumb and index
finger as we are likely to do, and they place it on the board
smartly and with great skill, so that it gives a cheerful
sound, as before stated.
For use in this country the board need not be so thick,
and need not, of course, have feet, but if it is attempted to
play the game on cardboard, which has a dead sound as
the stones are played, it is surprising how much the pleas-
ure of the game is diminished. The author has found
24 THE GAME OF GO
that Casino chips are the best substitute for the Japanese
stones.
Originally the board used for the game of Go was not
so large, and the intersecting lines in each direction were
only seventeen in number. At the time of the foundation
of the Go Academy this was the size of board in use. As
the game developed the present number of lines became
fixed after trial and comparison with other possible sizes.
Korschelt made certain experiments with the next possible
larger size in which the number of lines in each direction
was twenty-one, and it seemed that the game could still
be played, although it made necessary the intellect of a
past master to grasp the resulting combinations. If more
than twenty-one lines are used Korschelt states that the
combinations are beyond the reach of the human mind.
In closing the description of the board it may be inter-
esting to point out that the game which we call "Go Bang"
or "Five in a Row," is played on what is really a Japanese
Go board, and the word "Go Bang" is merely another
phonetic imitation of the words by which the Japanese
designate their board. I have found, however, that the
"Go Bang" boards sold in the stores in this country are
an imitation of the original Japanese "Go ban," and have
only seventeen lines, and are therefore a little too small
for the game as now played. The game which we call
"Go Bang" also originated in Japan, and is well known
and still played there. They call it "Go Moku Narabe,"
which means to arrange five "Me," the word "Go" in this
case meaning "five," and "Moku" being the alternative
way of pronouncing the ideograph for eye. "Go Moku
Narabe" is often played by good Go players, generally
DESCRIPTION OF BOARD AND STONES 25
for relaxation, as it is a vastly simpler game than Go, and
can be finished much more rapidly. It is not, however,
to be despised, as when played by good players there is
considerable chance for analysis, and the play often covers
the entire board.
Ill
RULES OF PLAY
The players play alternately, and the weaker player
has the black stones and plays first, unless a handicap
has been given, in which case the player using the white
stones has the first move. (In the olden times this was just
reversed.) They place the stones on the vacant points of
intersection on the board, or "Me," and they may place
them wherever they please, with the single exception of
the case called "Ko," which will be hereafter explained.
When the stones are once played they are never moved
again.
The object of the game of Go is to secure territory. Just
as the object of the game of Chess is not to capture pieces,
but to checkmate the adverse King, so in Go the ultimate
object is not to capture the adversary's stones, but to so
arrange matters that at the end of the game a player's
stones will surround as much vacant space as possible. At the
end of the game, however, before the amount of vacant space
is calculated, the stones that have been taken are used to
fill up the vacant spaces claimed by the adversary; that
is to say, the captured black stones are used to fill up the
spaces surrounded by the player having the White pieces,
and vice versa, and the player who has the greatest amount
of territory after the captured stones are used in this way,
is the winner of the game. However, if the players, fearing
26
RULES OF PLAY 27
each other, merely fence in parts of the board without re-
gard to each other's play, a most uninteresting game
results, and the Japanese call this by the contemptuous epi-
thet "Ji dori go," or "ground taking Go." I have noticed
that beginners in this country sometimes start to play in
this way, and it is one of the many ways by which the play
of a mere novice may be recognized. The best games arise
when the players in their efforts to secure territory attack
each other's stones or groups of stones, and we therefore
must know how a stone can be taken.
A stone is taken when it is surrounded on four opposite
sides as shown in Plate 2, Diagram 1. When it is taken
it is removed from the board. It is not necessary that a
stone should also be surrounded diagonally, which would
make eight stones necessary in order to take one; neither
do four stones placed on the adjacent diagonal inter-
sections cause a stone to be taken: they do not directly
attack the stone in the center at all. Plate 2, Diagram iv,
shows this situation.
A stone which is placed on the edge of the board may
be surrounded and captured by three stones, as shown in
Plate 2, Diagram 11, and if a stone is placed in the extreme
corner of the board, it may be surrounded and taken by
two stones, as shown in Plate 2, Diagram ill.
In actual practice it seldom or never happens that a
stone or group of stones is surrounded by the minimum
number requisite under the rule, for in that case the player
whose stones were threatened could generally manage to
break through his adversary's line. It is almost always
necessary to add helping stones to those that are strictly
necessary in completing the capture. Plate 2, Diagram v,
28 THE GAME OF GO
shows four stones which are surrounded with the minimum
number of stones. Plate 2, Diagram vi, shows the same
group with a couple of helping stones added, which would
probably be found necessary in actual play.
It follows from this rule that stones which are on the
same line parallel with the edges of the board are connected,
and support each other, Plate 2, Diagram vn, while stones
which are on the same diagonal line are not connected, and
do not support each other, Plate 2, Diagram vin. In
order to surround stones which are on the same line, and
therefore connected, it is necessary to surround them all
in order to take them, while stones which are arranged on
a diagonal line, and therefore unconnected, may be taken
one at a time. On Plate 2, Diagram 111, if there were a
stone placed at S 18, it would not be connected with the
stone in the corner, and would not help it in any way. On
the other hand, as has been said, it is not necessary to place
a white stone on that point in order to complete the capture
of the stone in the corner.
In order to capture a group or chain of stones contain-
ing vacant space, it must be completely surrounded inside
and out; for instance, the black group shown on Plate 2,
Diagram ix, while it has no hope of life if it is White's
play is nevertheless not completely surrounded. In order
to surround it, it is necessary to play on the three vacant
intersections at M 11, N 11, and On. The same group of
stones is shown in Diagram x completely surrounded.
(It may be said in passing that White must play at N n
first or the black stones can defend themselves; we shall
understand this better in a moment.)
In practice it often happens that a stone or group of
RULES OF PLAY
29
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6(
5(
41
3(
2
1
! •"
r
£
" D
IAGJRAN
1 1
AAmA diagrah
iny
D
[AGRAJV
n
m
*S
DL
A.G^AM-
(
D
g
IAO
1
RAN
4
l IE
1
r
^
9
>IAGRATil ]X
D
AG1
(AM
x
1
K.
\
|
1
w
\
w
L.
<
(IAGRAMxl
I
MAC
jRAl
A~SI
/
(y\
I
»
<
4
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 2
3o THE GAME OF GO
stones is regarded as dead before it is completely surrounded,
because when the situation is observed to be hopeless the
losing player abandons it, and addresses his energies to
some other part of the board. It is advantageous for the
losing player to abandon such a group as soon as possible,
for, if he continues to add to the group, he loses not only
the territory but the added stones also. If the circum-
stances are such that his opponent has to reply to his moves
in the hopeless territory, the loss is not so great, as the
opponent is meanwhile filling up spaces which would other-
wise be vacant, and against an inferior player there is a
chance of the adversary making a slip and allowing the
threatened stones to save themselves. If, however, the
situation is so clearly hopeless that the adversary is not
replying move for move, then every stone added to such a
group means a loss of two points.
. At the end of the game such abandoned groups of stones
are removed from the board just as if they had been com-
pletely surrounded and killed, and it is not necessary for
the player having the advantage actually to surround and
kill such a group. It is enough if they obviously can be
killed. The theory on which this rule proceeds is that if the
players play alternately, no advantage would be gained by
either side in the process of actually surrounding such a
group, and its completion would only be a waste of time.
But let us suppose that a black group at the end of the game
is found to be hopeless and also completely surrounded
with the exception of one point. The question arises, can
the Black player demand that his adversary play on the
vacant space in order to kill this group, for, if he could, it
is obvious he would gain one "Me" by so doing. The an-
RULES OF PLAY 31
swer is, he cannot so demand, and his adversary is not
bound to play on this point, and the hopeless or abandoned
stones are removed without further play. We might call
such groups "dead." They may be distinguished from
stones that are "taken," because these latter are removed
at once, whereas "dead" stones are removed only at the
end of the game.
As a corollary to the rule for surrounding and tak-
ing stones, it follows that a group of stones containing
two disconnected vacant intersections or "Me" cannot be
taken. This is not a separate rule. It follows necessa-
rily from the method by which stones are taken. Never-
theless in practice it is the most important principle in
the game.
In order to understand the rule or principle of the two
"Me," we must first look at the situation shown in Plate 3,
Diagram 1. There, if a black stone is played at F 15, al-
though it is played on an intersection entirely surrounded
by white stones, it nevertheless lives because the moment
it is played it has the effect of killing the entire white group;
that is to say, a stone may be played on an intersection where
it is completely surrounded if as it is played it has the effect
of completely surrounding the adversary's stones already
on the board. If, on the other hand, we have a situation
as shown in Plate 3, Diagram 11, a black stone may indeed
be played on one of the vacant intersections, but when it
is so played the white group is not completely surrounded,
because there still remains one space yet to be filled, and
the black stone itself is dead as soon as it touches the board,
and hence it would be impossible to surround this group
of white stones unless two stones were played at once. The
32 THE GAME OF GO
white stones, therefore, can never be surrounded, and form
an impregnable position.
This is the principle of the two " Me," and when a player's
group of stones is hard pressed, and his adversary is
trying to surround them, if he can so place the stones that
two disconnected complete "Me" are left, they are safe
forever. It makes no difference whether the vacant "Me"
are on the edges or in the corners of the board, or how far
from each other they may be.
Plate 3, Diagram vi, shows a group of stones contain-
ing two vacant "Me" on the edge of the board. This
group is perfectly safe against attack. A beginner might
ask why the white group shown on P'ate 3, Diagram v,
• no*: Te. The difficulty with that group is, that when
iack Dlayed at S 9, there are no "Me" in it at all as
the wor L used in this connection, not even a "Kageme"
as shown :n Plate 3, Diagram m, because a "Me," in order
to be available for the ^urp^se of defense, must be a
vacant intersection that is surrounded on four sides, just as
a captured stone must be sutc Tnd therefore on the
sides of the board it can be je oy three stones, and in the
corner of the board by two stones, but it is absolutely
necessary, in addition to { " minimum number of sur-
rounding stones, to have helping stones to guard the
surrounding stones against attack. This bimg. us to
what the Japanese call " Kageme."
In actual play there are many groups of stones that at
first glance seem to have two vacant "Me" in them, but
which on analysis, will be found vulnerable to attack A
"Me" that looks somewhat as if it were complete, but is,
nevertheless, destructible is called "Kageme." "Kage"
RULES OF PLAY
33
ABCDEFGHJK
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
51
41
3
2
1
DIAGR
AMj
D
AG
I
DIAGRA]
A li
to. h
O
ag:
*AX-
TT
B j.
1
™D1
\GF
AMJm^
4
DLA
GR/
lM
3ZI
fc
^^^
%
F¥<
I
1
w
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
A
1JKLMNOPQRS'
Plate 3
V
34 THE GAME OF GO
means "chipped" or "incomplete." Plate 3, Diagram in,
is an illustration of this. A beginner might think that the
white group was safe, but Black can kill the upper six white
stones by playing at E 3, and then on the next move can kill
the remainder by playing at G 2. Therefore, E 3 is not a
perfect "Me," but is "Kageme." G 2 is a perfect "Me,"
but one is not enough to save the group. In this group if
the stone at F 4 or D 2 were white, there would be two
perfect "Me," and the group would be safe. In a close
game beginners often find it difficult to distinguish between
a perfect "Me" and "Kageme."
Groups of stones which contain vacant spaces, can be
lost or saved according as two disconnected "Me" can or
cannot be formed in those spaces, and the most interesting
play in the game occurs along the sides and especially in
the corners of the board in attempting to form or attempt-
ing to prevent the formation of these "Me." The attacking
player often plays into the vacant space and sacrifices several
stones with the ultimate object of reducing the space to one
"Me"; and, on the other hand, the defending player by
selecting a fortunate intersection may make it impossible
for the stones to be killed. There is opportunity for mar-
velous ingenuity in the attack and defense of these positions.
A simple example of defense is shown in Plate 3, Diagram iv,
where, if it is White's turn, and he plays in the corner of ;$*
the board at T 19, he can save his stones. If, on the other
hand, he plays anywhere else, the two "Me" can never be
formed. The beginner would do well to work out this
situation for himself.
The series of diagrams commencing at Plate 3, Diagram
v, show the theoretical method of reducing vacant spaces
RULES OF PLAY
35
by the sacrifice of stones. This series is taken from Kor-
schelt, and the position as it arose in actual play is shown
on Plate 10, depicting a complete game. In Plate 3, Diagram
v, the white group is shown externally surrounded, and the
black stone has just been played at S 9, rendering the group
hopeless. The same group is shown on the opposite side
of the board at Plate 4, Diagram 1, but Black has added
three more stones and could kill the white groip on the next
move. Therefore, White plays at A 12, and the situation
shown in Plate 4, Diagram 11, arises, where the same group
is shown on the lower edge of the board. Now, if it were
White's move, he could save his group by playing at J 2,
and the situation which would then arise is shown on Plate
4, Diagram in, where White has three perfect "Me," one
more than enough. However, it is not White's move, and
Black plays on the coveted intersection, and then adds two
more stones until the situation shown in Plate 4, Diagram
iv, arises. Then White must again play at S 8 in order to
save his stones from immediate capture, and the situation
shown at Plate 5, Diagram 1, comes about. Black again
plays at J 18, adds one more stone, and we have the situa-
tion shown in Plate 5, Diagram 11, where it is obvious that
White must play at C 1 1 in order to save his group from
immediate capture, thus leaving only two vacant spaces.
It is unnecessary to continue the analysis further, but at
the risk of explaining what is apparent, it might be pointed
out that Black would play on one of these vacant spaces,
and if White killed the stone (which it would not pay White
to do) Black would play again on the space thus made
vacant, and completely surround and kill the entire white
group.
36
THE GAME OF GO
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Iq ^^/' >a \ r\ f\ r\ r\ r\ J^m
18
17
DIAGR
AM
I
14QQQQI
i3Q#QQ^
iiQiQQl
Dl
AGI
AM
m
diagrams
°™
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
D
AG1
!AM
3E
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
A B C D E F
G H J K L
Plate 4
MNOPORST
RULES OF PLAY
37
ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPOF
1Q niAc.RAMT ^ s~^s r~~\ r~~\ ^~\ /^^ /^^ f~\ ^L. A
,
18
17
16 D
IAGRA>
in
4 a r\tW\WWf
1 1 (\l\l\f~\kt\
toiAGR Am im 1
L/wwWf w —
12QQOO0~
DIAGRAM 5!
i
JIM
P DIAGR/.M
Iff
C.4
IAG
RA>
[sr
o 1 c\r\f
t,
1
___
H9
H8
17
16
15
)14
113
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
Plate 5
38 THE GAME OF GO
A group with five vacant "Me," as shown in the pre-
ceding diagrams, is a situation well known to the Japanese,
so much so that they have a special phrase or saying that
applies to it, to wit, "Go moku naka de wa ju san te," which
means that it takes thirteen turns to reduce a group having
five such "Me" in the center.
As we have previously seen, in actual play this white
group would be regarded as "dead" as distinguished from
"taken," and this series of moves would not be played out.
White obviously would not play in the space, and he could
not demand that Black play therein in order to complete
the actual surrounding of the stones, and the only purpose
of giving this series of diagrams is to show theoretically how
the white stones can be killed. However, the killing of
these stones would be necessary if the surrounding black
line were in turn attacked ("Semeai"), in which case it
mi^ht be a race to see whether the internal white stones
could be completely surrounded and killed before the
external white group could get in complete contact with
the black line.
Stones which are sacrificed in order to kill a larger group
are called "Sute ishi" by the Japanese, from "Suteru,"
meaning "to cast or throw away," and "Ishi," a "stone."
It may be noted that if a group contains four connected
vacant intersections in a line it is safe, because if the adver-
sary attempts to reduce it, two disconnected "Me" can be
formed in the space by simply playing a stone adjacent to
the adversary's stone, as shown in Plate 5, Diagram in,
where, if Black plays for instance at K 11, White replies
at L 11, and secures the two "Me." Even if these four
connected vacant intersections are not in a straight line, thev
RULES OF PLAY
39
are nevertheless sufficient for the purpose, provided the
fourth "Me" is connected at the end of the three, and the
Japanese express this by their saying "Magari shimoku wa
me," or four "Me" turning a corner. Neither does it make
any difference whether the four connected "Me" are in the
center of the board or along the edge. On Plate 5, Diagrams
iv and v, are examples of "Magari shimoku wa me," and
they both are safe. It is interesting, however, to compare
these situations with that shown at Plate 4, Diagram 11,
where the fourth intersection is not connected at the end of
the line, and which group Black can kill if it is his move,
as we already have seen.
If, however, such a group contains only three connected
vacant intersections, and it is the adversary's move, it can
be killed, because the adversary by playing on the middle
intersection can prevent the formation of two disconnected
"Me." We saw a group of this kind on Plate 2, Diagram
IX, which can be killed by playing at Nil. Obviously, if
it is Black's move in this case, the group can be saved by
playing at Nil; obviously, also, if White, being a mere
novice, plays elsewhere than at N 11, Black saves the stones
by playing there and killing the white stone. Plate 5,
Diagram vi, shows another group containing only three
vacant intersections. These can be killed if it is Black's
move by playing at A 1. On the other hand, if it is White's
move, he can save them by playing on the same point.
Of course, if a group of stones contains a large number
of vacant intersections, it is perfectly safe unless the vacant
space is so large that the adversary can have a chance of
forming an entire new living group of stones therein.
We now come to the one exception to the rule that the
4o THE GAME OF GO
players may place their stones at will on any vacant inter-
section on the board. This rule is called the rule of "Ko,"
and is shown on Plate 6, Diagram i. Assuming that it is
White's turn to play, he can play at D 17 and take the black
stone at C 17 which is already surrounded on three sides,
and the position shown in Plate 6, Diagram 11, would then
arise. It is now White's turn to play, and if he plays at C 13,
the white stone which has just been put down will be like-
wise surrounded and could be at once taken from the board.
Black, however, is not permitted to do this immediately,
but must first play somewhere else, and this gives White
the choice of filling up this space (C 13) and defending his
stone, or of following his adversary to some other portion of
the board. The reason for this rule in regard to "Ko" is
very clear. If the players were permitted to take and re-
take the stones as shown in the diagram, the series of moves
would be endless, and the game could never be finished.
It is something like perpetual check in Chess, but the Jap-
anese, in place of calling the game a draw, compel the second
player to move elsewhere and thus allow the game to con-
tinue. In an actual game when a player is prevented from
retaking a stone by the rule of " Ko," he always tries to play
in some other portion of the board where he threatens a
larger group of stones than is involved in the situation where
"Ko" occurs, and thus often he can compel his adversary
to follow him to this other part of the field, and then return
to retake in " Ko." His adversary then will play in some
part of the field, if possible, where another group can be
threatened, and so on. Sometimes in a hotly contested
game the battle will rage around a place where "Ko" occurs
and the space will be taken and retaken several times.
RULES OF PLAY
4i
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
II
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
EflAGRA
vl I
E
»IAC
RA1
4 VIII
D
IAQRA1
jin
DLAGR>
M
H
1
E
IAGRAJ
vim
£
HAGRAM W.
^
DI
AGF
AM
3ZTI
)
[
IAQRA]
jll
-c
v
J
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
ABCDEFGNJKLMNOPO
Plate 6
42 THE GAME OF GO
Korschelt states that the ideograph for "Ko" means
"talent" or "skilfulness," in which he is very likely wrong,
as it is more accurately translated by our word "threat";
but be this as it may, it is certainly true that the rule in
regard to "Ko" gives opportunity for a great display of
skill, and as the better players take advantage of this rule
with much greater ingenuity, it is a good idea for the weaker
player as far as possible to avoid situations where its appli-
cation arises.
There is a situation which sometimes arises and which
might be mistaken for "Ko." It is where a player takes
more than one stone and the attacking stone is threatened
on three sides, or where only one stone is taken, but the
adversary in replying can take not only the last stone played,
but others also. In these cases the opponent can retake
immediately, because it will at once be seen that an endless
exchange of moves (which makes necessary the rule of " Ko")
would not occur. A situation of this kind is shown on Plate
6, Diagrams in, iv, and v, where White by playing at C 8
(Diagram in) takes the three black stones, producing
the situation shown in Diagram iv, and Black is permitted
immediately to retake the white stone, producing the state
of affairs shown in Diagram v. The Japanese call such a
situation "Ute kaeshi," which means "returning a blow."
It forms no exception to the ordinary rules of the game, and
only needs to be pointed out because a beginner might think
that the rule of "Ko" applied to it.
We will now take up the situation called " Seki." " Seki "
means a "barrier" or "impasse" — it is a different word
from the "Seki" in the phrase "Jo seki." "Seki" also is
somewhat analagous to perpetual check. It arises when a
RULES OF PLAY 43
vacant space is surrounded partly by white and partly by
black stones in such away that, if either player places a stone
therein, his adversary can thereupon capture the entire
group. Under these circumstances, of course, neither player
desires to place a stone on that portion of the board, and
the rules of the game do not compel him to do so. That
portion of the board is regarded as neutral territory, and
at the end of the game the vacant "Me" are not counted
in favor of either player. Plate 6, Diagram vi, gives an
illustration of "Seki," where it will be seen that if Black
plays at either S 16 or T 16 White can kill the black stones
in the corner by playing on the other point, and if White
plays on either point Black can kill the white stones by
filling the remaining vacancy. Directly below, on Diagram
vii, is shown the same group, but the corner black stone
has been taken out. The position is now no longer "Seki,"
but is called by the Japanese "Me ari me nashi," or literally
"having 'Me,' not having 'Me.' : Here the white stones
are dead, because if Black plays, for instance, at T 4 White
cannot kill the black stones by playing at S 4, for the reason
that the vacant "Me" at T 1 still remains. The beginner
might confuse "Seki" with "Me ari me nashi," and while
a good player has no trouble in recognizing the difference
when the situation arises, it takes considerable foresight
sometimes so to play as to produce one situation or the
other.
Plate 6, Diagram viii, shows another group which might
be mistaken for "Seki," but here, if White plays at J 19,
the black stones can be killed, further proceedings being
somewhat similar to those we saw in the illustration of
"Go moku naka de wa ju san te." Plate 7 shows a large
44 THE GAME OF GO
group of stones from which inevitably "Seki" will result.
It would be well for the student to work this out for him-
self. "Seki" very seldom or never occurs in games between
good players, and it rarely occurs in any game.
It is a rule of the game to give warning when a stone
or group of stones is about to be completely surrounded.
For this purpose the Japanese use the word "Atari" (from
"ataru," to touch lightly), which corresponds quite closely
to the expression "gardez" in Chess. If this warning were
omitted, the player whose stones were about to be taken
should have the right to take his last move over and save
the imperiled position if he could. This rule is not so
strictly observed as formerly; it belongs more to the etiquette
of the old Japan.
The game comes to an end when the frontiers of the
opposing groups are in contact. This does not mean that
the board is entirely covered, for the obvious reason that
the space inside the groups or chains of stones is purposely
left vacant, for that is the only part of the board which
counts; but so long as there is any vacant space lying between
the opposing groups that must be disposed of in some way,
and when it is so disposed of it will be found that the white
and black groups are in complete contact.
Just at the end of the game there will be found isolated
vacant intersections or "Me" on the frontier lines, and it
does not make any difference which player fills these up.
They are called by the Japanese "Dame," which means
"useless." (The word "Dame" is likely to be confusing
when it is first heard, because the beginner jumps to the
conclusion that it is some new kind of a "Me." This arises
from a coincidence only. Anything that is useless or profit-
RULES OF PLAY
45
ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPORST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
1
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
A B C D E
FGHJ KLMNOPQR
Plate 7
S T
46 THE GAME OF GO
less is called "Dame" in Japanese, but etymologically the
word really means "horse's eye," as the Japanese, not being
admirers of the vacant stare of that noble animal, have used
this word as a synonym for all that is useless. Therefore
the syllable "Me" does mean an eye, and is the same word
that is used to designate the intersections, but its recurrence
in this connection is merely an accident.)
It is difficult for the beginner at first to understand why
the filling of these "Dame" results in no advantage to either
player, and beginners often fill up such spaces even before
the end of the game, feeling that they are gaining ground
slowly but surely; and the Japanese have a saying, "Heta
go ni dame nashi," which means that there are no "Dame"
in beginners' Go, as beginners do not recognize their use-
lessness. On the other hand, a necessary move will some-
times look like " Dame." The moves that are likely to be
so confused are the final connecting moves or "Tsugu,"
where a potential connection has been made early in the
game, but which need to be filled up to complete the chain.
In the Illustrative Game, Number I, the "Dame" are all
given, but a little practice is necessary before they can
always be recognized.
When the "Dame" have been filled, and the dead stones
have been removed from the board, there is no reason why
the players should not at once proceed to counting up which
of them has the greatest amount of vacant space, less, of
course, the number of stones they have lost, and thus deter-
mine who is the victor. As a matter of practice, however,
the Japanese do not do this immediately, but, purely for
the purpose of facilitating the count, the player having the
white pieces would fill up his adversary's territory with
RULES OF PLAY 47
the black stones he had captured as far as they would go,
and the player having the black stones would fill up his
adversary's territory with the white stones that he had
captured; and thereupon the entire board is reconstructed,
so that the vacant spaces come into rows of fives and tens,
so that they are easier to count. This has really nothing to
do with the game, and it is merely a device to make the
counting of the spaces easier, but it seems like a mysterious
process to a novice, and adds not a little to the general mys-
tery with which the end of the game seems to be surrounded
when an Occidental sees it played for the first time. This
process of arrangement is called "Me wo tsukuru." It
may be added that if any part of the board contains the
situation called "Seki," that portion is left alone, and is
not reconstructed like the rest of the board.
Plate 8 shows a completed game in which the "Dame"
have all been filled, but the dead stones have not yet been
removed from the board. Let us first see which of the
stones are dead. It is easy to see that the white stone at
N 11 is hopeless, as it is cut off in every direction. The
same is true of the white stone at B 18. It is not so easy
to see that the black stones at L and M 18, N, O, P, Q and
R 17, N 16, and M and N 15 are dead, but against a good
player they would have no hope of forming the necessary
two "Me," and they are therefore conceded to be dead; but
a good player could probably manage to defend them against
a novice. It is still more difficult to see why the irregular
white group of eighteen stones on the left-hand side of the
board has been abandoned, but there also White has no
chance of making the necessary two "Me." At the risk
of repetition I will again point out that these groups of
48 THE GAME OF GO
dead stones can be taken from the board without further
play.
Plate 9 shows the same game after the dead stones have
been removed and used to fill up the respective territories,
and after the board has been reconstructed in accordance
with the Japanese method, and it will be seen that in this
case Black has won by one stone. This result can be arrived
at equally well by counting up the spaces on Plate 8, but
they are easier to count on Plate 9, after the "Me wo tsu-
kuru" has been done.
Plate 10 shows another completed game. This plate is
from Korschelt, and is interesting because it contains an
instructive error. The game is supposed to be completed,
and the black stone at C 18 is said to be dead. This is not
true, because Black by playing at C 17 could not only save
his stone, but kill the four white stones at the left-hand
side. Therefore, before this game is completed, White must
play at C 17 to defend himself. This is called "Tsugu."
On the left-hand side of the board is shown a white group
which is dead, and the method of reduction of which we have
already studied in detail. On the right side of the board
are a few scattering black stones which are dead, because
they have no chance of forming a group with the necessary
two "Me." The question may be asked whether it is neces-
sary for White to play at C 1 or E 1 in order to complete the
connection of the group in the corner, but he is not obliged
so to do unless Black chooses to play at B 1 or F 1, which,
of course, Black would not do.
On Plate 11, this game also is shown as reconstructed
for counting, and it will be seen that White has won by two
stones. Really this is an error of one stone, as White
RULES OF PLAY
49
A B C D E F
GHJ KLMNOPQR
Plate 8
5°
THE GAME OF GO
DEFGHJKLM
Plate 9
RULES OF PLAY
51
BCD
BCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate io
52 THE GAME OF GO
should have played at C 17, as we have previously pointed
out.
Sometimes at the end of the game players of moder-
ate skill may differ as to whether there is anything left to
be done, and when one thinks there is no longer any advan-
tage to be gained by either side, he says, "Mo arimasen, aru
naraba o yuki nasai," that is to say, " I think there is nothing
more to be done; if you think you can gain anything, you
may play," and sometimes he will allow his adversary to play
two or three times in succession, reserving the right to step
in if he thinks there is a chance of his adversary reviving
a group that is apparently dead.
No part of the rules of the game has been more difficult
for me to understand than the methods employed at the end,
and especially the rule in regard to the removal of dead
stones without actually surrounding them, but I trust in
the foregoing examples I have made this rule sufficiently
clear. Moreover, it is not always easy to tell whether stones
are dead or alive. There is a little poem or "Hokku" in
Japanese, which runs as follows:
"Iki shini wo
Shiranu nonki no
Go uchi kana,"
which might be translated as "Oh! what kind of a Go
player is he who does not know whether his stones are r.live
or dead!" But while the Japanese author of this "Hokku"
may have regarded it as a simple thing, the Occidental stu-
dent of the game would not be likely to share his views.
An instance of this is shown by the possibilities of the sup-
posedly dead black stone on Plate 10, and I think it would
be fairer to state that the skill of a good Go player is most
RULES OF PLAY
53
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate ii
54 THE GAME OF GO
clearly shown by his ability to recognize immediately whether
a group is dead or can be saved; the study of our chapter
on Problems will give further illustrations of the diffi-
culty and nicety of such decisions.
We now come to the question of handicaps. Handicaps
are given by the stronger player allowing the weaker player
to place a certain number of stones on the board before
the game begins, and we have seen in the chapter on the
Description of the Board that these stones are placed on the
nine dotted intersections. If one stone is given, it is usual
to place it in the upper right-hand corner. If a second stone
is given, it is placed in the lower left-hand corner. If a third
stone is given, it is placed in the lower right-hand corner.
The fourth is placed in the upper left-hand corner. The
fifth is placed at the center or "Ten gen." When six are
given, the center one is removed, and the fifth and sixth
are placed at the left and right-hand edges of the board on
line 10. If seven are given, these stones remain, and the
seventh stone is placed in the center. If eight are given, the
center stone is again removed, and the seventh and eighth
stones are placed on the "Seimoku" on line K. If the
ninth is given, it is again placed in the center of the board.
Between players of reasonable skill more than nine stones
are never given, but when the disparity between the players
is too great, four other stones are sometimes given. They
are placed just outside the corner "Seimoku," as shown on
the diagram (Plate 12), and these extra stones are called
"Furin" handicaps. "Furin" means "a small bell," as
these stones suggest to the Japanese the bells which hang
from the eaves at the corners of a Japanese temple. When
the disparity between the players is very great indeed, some-
RULES OF PLAY
55
ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPORST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
1
4T"F
JFIN
1"F
/
.JRIN
L
FOT.
RTH
EIG
HTH
FI!
L.
*ST
_^
I
JAKA
1
YOTJ
>U
in
AKA
/
YOTJ
s
»u
L
A
L
A
FII
TH
si:
CTH
SEVJ
Nir
NTH
JTH
FD
TH
^
AKA
YOT
>u
^
IAKA
YOT
5U
L
\
L
A
SEC(
IND
SEVI
,NTF
;
TH
RD
1
\
\
/ /
\
— a
2"°F
3
JRIN
ytf
JKLN
X
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 12
56 THE GAME OF GO
times four more stones are given, and when given they are
placed on the diagonal halfway between the corner "Seimo-
ku" and the center. These four stones are called "Naka
yotsu," or "the four middle stones," but such a handicap
could only be given to the merest novice.
We have now completed a survey of all the actual rules
of the game, and it may be well to summarize them in order
that their real simplicity may be clearly seen; briefly, they
are as follows:
i. The object of the game is to obtain vacant territory.
2. The stones are placed on the intersections and on
any vacant intersection the player chooses (except in the
case of "Ko"). After they are played they are not moved
again.
3. (a) One or more stones which are compactly sur-
rounded by the stones of the other side are said to be taken
and are at once removed from the board.
(b) Stones which, while not actually surrounded can
inevitably be surrounded, are dead, and can be taken from
the board at the end of the game without further play.
(c) Taken or dead stones are used to fill up the ad-
versary's territory.
4. The game is at an end when the opposing groups of
stones are in absolute contact (the case of "Seki" being the
single exception).
It is not possible to imagine a game with simpler rules,
or the elements of which are easier to acquire.
We will now turn our attention to a few considerations
as to the best methods of play, and of certain moves and
formations which occur in every game, and also to the
names which in Japanese are used to designate these things.
IV
GENERAL METHODS OF PLAY AND TERMI-
NOLOGY OF THE GAME
As will be shown more in detail in the chapter on Open-
ings or " Joseki," the game is commenced by playing in the
corners of the board, and generally on one of the squares
adjacent to the handicap point. The reason for this is that
the corners of the board are natural fortresses, and can be
more readily defended against attack. It is also easier to
form territory in the corners of the board. Next to the
corners of the board the sides of the board are easiest to
defend, and territory is more easily formed along the sides
than in the center, and in an ordinary game the play gen-
erally proceeds from the corners and edges to the center.
The importance which the Japanese attach to the corners
is shown by their saying "Yo sumi torarete go wo utsu na,"
or, "if the four corners are taken, cease playing." Against
a good player it is next to impossible to form territory in
the center of the board, unless it is based on one of the sides
or corners.
There is, however, an old rule of etiquette which is not
consistent with this theory of the opening; it used to be
regarded as exceedingly impolite and insulting to play the
first stone on the handicap point in the center of the board,
called "Ten gen." It has been explained to me that the
reason for this rule is that such a move was supposed to
57
58 THE GAME OF GO
assure the victory to the first player, and it is related that
when on one occasion Murase Shuho had defeated a rival
many times in succession, the latter, becoming desperate, apol-
ogized for his rudeness and placed his stone on this spot, and
Murase, nevertheless, succeeded in winning the game, which
was regarded as evidence of his great skill. It has, however,
been shown by Honinbo Dosaku that this move gives the
first player no decisive advantage, and I have been also told
by some Japanese that the reason that this move is regarded
as impolite is because it is a wasted move, and implies a
disrespect for the adversary's skill, and from what experi-
ence I have had in the game I think the latter explanation
is more plausible. At all events, such a move is most un-
usual and can only be utilized by a player of the highest
skill.
When good players commence the game, from the first
they have in mind the entire board, and they generally play
a stone in each of the four corners and one or two around
the edges of the board, sketching out, as it were, the terri-
tory which they ultimately hope to obtain. They do not
at once attack each other's stones, and it is not until the
game is well advanced that anything like a hand to hand
conflict occurs. Beginners are likely to engage at once in
a close conflict. Their minds seem to be occupied with an
intense desire to surround and capture the first stones the
adversary places on the board, and often their opposing
groups of stones, starting in one corner, will spread out in
a struggling mass from that point all over the board. There
is no surer indication of the play of a novice than this. It
is just as if a battle were to commence without the guidance
of a commanding officer, by indiscriminate fisticuffs among
GENERAL METHODS OF PLAY 59
the common soldiers. Of the other extreme, or "Ji dori
Go," we have already spoken. Another way in which the
play of experts may be recognized is that all the stones of
a good player are likely to be connected in one or at most
two groups, while poorer players find their stones divided
up into small groups each of which has to struggle to form
the necessary two "Me" in order to insure survival.
Assuming that we have advanced far enough to avoid
premature encounters or "Ji dori Go," and are placing
our stones in advantageous positions, decently and in order,
the question arises, how many spaces can be safely skipped
from stone to stone in advancing our frontiers; that is to say,
how far can stones be separated and yet be potentially con-
nected, and therefore safe against attack ? The answer is,
that two spaces can safely be left if there are no adversary's
stones in the immediate vicinity. To demonstrate this, let
us suppose that Black has stones at R 13 and R 16, and
White tries to cut them ofF from each other. White's best
line of attack would be as follows :
White
Black
R 14
S 14
R15
S 15
Q.16
R17
Qi3
R 12
Q.12
and Black has made good his connection, or Black at his
fourth move could play at Q 14, then
w
B
Q.15
R 12
P 14 takes.
60 THE GAME OF GO
There are other continuations, but they are still worse for
White. If, however, the adversary's stones are already
posted on the line of advance sometimes it is only safe to
skip one point, and of course in close positions the stones
must be played so that they are actually connected. The
Japanese call this skipping of "Me" by the terms "Ikken
tobi," "Nikken tobi," "Sangen tobi," etc., which literally
means "to fly one, two, or three spaces." Although this is
plain enough, these relations are nevertheless shown on
Plate 13, Diagrams 1, 11, and in. When stones of oppo-
site colors on the same line are separated by vacant space
in a similar way (Diagram iv), then the terms "Ikken
kakari," "Nikken kakari," etc., are used. "Kakari" really
means "to hang" or "to be related," but as used in this
sense it might be translated "to attack."
Sometimes the stones are placed in relation to each other
like the Knight's move in Chess. The Knight in Japanese
is called "Keima," or "the honorable horse," and if the
stones are of the same color the relation is called "Keima"
or "Kogeima," "Ko" being the diminutive. If the stones
are of opposite colors, then the phrase " Keima" or " Kogeima
kakari" is used as in the previous case. The Japanese also
designate a relation similar to the Knight's move, but farther
apart, by special words; thus, if the stones are one space
farther apart, it is called "Ogeima," or "the Great Knight's
move," and if the stone is advanced one step still farther,
it is called "Daidaigeima," or "the Great Great Knight's
move." On Plate 13, Diagrams v, vi, and vn, are shown
"Kogeima," "Ogeima," and "Daidaigeima."
The next question that will trouble the beginner is where
to place his stones when his adversary is advancing into his
GENERAL METHODS OF PLAY
61
19
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
DIAGRAM TC
ABCDEFGH-J KLMNOPQRST
Plate 13
62 THE GAME OF GO
territory, and beginners are likely to play their stones di-
rectly in contact with the advancing forces. This merely
results in their being engulfed by the attacking line, and
the stones and territory are both lost. If you wish to stop
your adversary's advance, play your stones a space or two
apart from his, so that you have a chance to strengthen
your line before his attack is upon you.
The next thing we will speak of is what the Japanese
call the "Sente." This word means literally "the leading
hand," but is best translated by our words "having the
offensive." It corresponds quite closely to the word "at-
tack," as it is used in Chess, but in describing a game of
Go it is better to reserve the word "attack "for a stronger
demonstration than is indicated by the word "Sente."
The "Sente" merely means that the player having it can
compel his adversary to answer his moves or else sustain
worse damage, and sometimes one player will have the
"Sente" in one portion of the board, and his adversary
may disregard the attack and by playing in some other
quarter take the "Sente" there. Sometimes the defend-
ing player by his ingenious moves may turn the tables on
his adversary and wrest the "Sente" from him. At all
events, holding the "Sente" is an advantage, and the anno-
tations on illustrative games abound with references to it,
and conservative authors on the game advise abandoning
a stone or two for the purpose of taking the "Sente."
Sometimes a player has three stones surrounding a
vacant space, as shown in Plate 13, Diagram viii, and the
question arises how to attack this group. This is done by
playing on the fourth intersection. The Japanese call this
"Nozoku," or "peeping into," and when a stone is played
GENERAL METHODS OF PLAY 6
5
in this way it generally forces the adversary to fill up that
''Me." It may be mentioned here also that when your
adversary is trying to form "Me" in a disputed territory,
the way to circumvent him is to play your stones on one of
the four points he will obviously need to complete his "Me,"
and sometimes this is done before he has three of the neces-
sary stones on the board. The term "Nozoku" is also
applied to any stone which is played as a preliminary move
in cutting the connection between two of the adversary's
stones or groups of stones.
Sometimes a situation occurs as shown in Plate 13,
Diagram ix. Here it is supposed to be White's move, and
he must, of course, play at K 8, whereupon Black would
play at K 7 ("Osaeru"), and White would have to play at
L 8 ("Nobiru"), and so on until, if these moves were per-
sisted in, the formation would stretch in a zigzag line to
the edge of the board. This situation is called "Shicho,"
which really means "a running attack." It results in the
capture of the white stones when the edge of the board is
reached, unless they happen to find a comrade posted on
the line of retreat, for instance, at P 4, in which case they
can be saved. Of course, between good players "Shicho"
is never played out to the end, for they can at once see
whether or not the stones will live, and often a stone placed
seemingly at random in a distant part of the board is played
partly with the object of supporting a retreating line should
"Shicho" occur.
Plate 13, Diagram x, shows a situation that often arises,
in which the White player, by putting his stone at M 1 on
the edge of the board, can join his two groups of stones.
This is so because if Black plays at L 1 or N 1, White can
64 THE GAME OF GO
immediately kill the stone. This joining on the edge of
the board is called by the special term "Watari," which
means "to cross over." Sometimes we find the word
"Watari" used when the connection between two groups
is made in a similar way, although not at the extreme edge
of the board.
A much more frequent situation is shown at Plate 13,
Diagram xi. It is not worthy of special notice except
because a special word is applied to it. If Black plays at
S 1, it is called "Haneru," which really means the flourish
which is made in finishing an ideograph.
We will now take up a few of the other words that are
used by the Japanese as they play the game. By far the
most frequent of these are "Tsugu," "Kiru," "Nobiru,"
and "Osaeru." "Tsugu" means "to connect," and when
two stones are adjacent but on the diagonal, as shown in
Plate 13, Diagram xn, it is necessary to connect them if
an attack is threatened. This may be done by playing on
either side; that is to say, at Q 17 or R 16. If, on the other
hand, Black should play on both these points, the white
stones would be forever separated, and this cutting off is
called "Kiru," although, as a rule, when such a situation
is worthy of comment, one of the intersections has already
been filled by the attacking player. Plate 13, Diagram
xiii, illustrates " Kiru," where, if a black stone is played
at Q 12, the white stones are separated. "Kiru" means
"to cut," and is recognizable as one of the component parts
of that much abused and mispronounced word "Harakiri."
"Nobiru" means "to extend," and when there is a line of
stones it means the adding of another one at the end, not
skipping a space as in the case of "Ikken tobi," but extend-
GENERAL METHODS OF PLAY 65
ing with the stones absolutely connected. In Plate 13,
Diagram xiv, if Black plays at Q 9 it would be called
"Nobiru." "Osaeru" means "to press down," and this
is what we do when we desire to prevent our adversary from
extending his line, as seen in the preceding diagram. It
is done by playing directly at the end of the adversary's
line, as shown in Diagram xv, where Black is supposed
to play at Q 6. Here White must play on one side of the
black stone, but it must be pointed out that unless there
is support in the neighborhood for the stone used in " Osaeru,"
the stone thus played runs the risk of capture. In Diagram
ix, explaining "Shicho," we also had an illustration of
"Nobiru" and "Osaeru."
If a stone is played on the intersection diagonally adja-
cent to another stone, it is called " Kosumu," but this word
is not nearly so much used as the other four. Sometimes,
also, when it is necessary to connect two groups of stones
instead of placing the stone so as actually to connect them,
as in the case of "Tsugu," the stone is played so as to effec-
tively guard the point of connection and thus prevent the
adversary's stone from separating the two groups. This
play is called "Kake tsugu," or "a hanging connection";
e.g., in Diagram xm, if a white stone were played at
Q 11 it would be an instance of "Kake tsugu" and would
have prevented the black stone from cutting off the White
connection at Q 12, for, if the black stone were played
there after a white stone had been placed at Qn, White
could capture it on the next move.
Passing from these words which describe the commonest
moves in the game, we will mention the expression "Te
okure" — literally "a slow hand" or "a slow move," which
66 THE GAME OF GO
means an unnecessary or wasted move. Many of the moves
of a beginner are of this character, especially when he has
a territory pretty well fenced in and cannot make up his
mind whether or not it is necessary to strengthen the group
before proceeding to another field of battle. In annotating
the best games, also, it is used to mean a move that is not
the best possible move, and we frequently hear it used by
Japanese in criticising the play.
"Semeai" is another word with which we must be
familiar. It means "mutually attacking," from "Semeru,"
"to attack," and "Au," "to encounter," that is to say, if
the White player attacks a group of black stones, the Black
player answers by endeavoring to surround the surrounding
stones, and so on. In our Illustrative Game, Number i,
the play in the upper right-hand corner of the board is an
example of "Semeai." It is in positions of this kind
that the condition of affairs called "Seki" often comes
about.
Plate 13, Diagram xvi, shows a position which is illus-
trated only because a special name is applied to it. The
Japanese call such a relation of stones "Cho tsugai," liter-
ally, "the hinge of a door."
The last expression which we will give is "Naka oshi
gatchi," which is the term applied to a victory by a large
margin in the early part of the game. These Japanese
words mean "to conquer by pushing the center." Begin-
ners are generally desirous of achieving a victory in this
way, and are not content to allow their adversary any por-
tion of the board. It is one of the first things to be remem-
bered, that, no matter how skilful a player may be, his
adversary will always be able to acquire some territory, and
GENERAL METHODS OF PLAY 67
one of the maxims of the game is not to attempt to achieve
too great a victory.
Before proceeding with the technical chapters on the
Illustrative Games, Openings, etc., it may be well to say a
word in regard to the method adopted for keeping a record
of the game. The Japanese do this by simply showing a
picture of the finished game, on which each stone is num-
bered as it was played. If a stone is taken and another
stone is put in its place, an annotation is made over the dia-
gram of the board with a reference to that intersection,
stating that such a stone has been taken in "Ko." Such
a method with the necessary marginal annotation is good
enough, but it is very hard to follow, as there is no means
of telling where any stone is without searching all over the
board for it; and while the Japanese are very clever at this,
Occidental students of the game do not find it so easy. There-
fore, I have adopted the method suggested by Korschelt,
which in turn is founded on the custom of Chess annotation
in use all over the world. The lines at the bottom of the
board are lettered from A to T, the letter I being omitted,
and at the sides of the board they are numbered up from
1 to 19. Thus it is always easy to locate any given stone.
In the last few years the Japanese have commenced to adopt
an analogous method of notation.
V
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
I
Plate 1 4
White. — Iwasa Kei, fifth degree.
Black. — Madame Tsutsuki Yoneko, second degree.
Black has a handicap of two stones.
Played about October, 1906. The record is from the
"Tokio Nichi Nichi."
This game is selected because it is very thoroughly
played out. The notes are intended for beginners, and
much is stated which is obvious to a player of any skill;
supplementing the explanations made in the preceding
chapter the Japanese names of the various moves are given.
White
1. C 15. A rather unusual move
called "Moku hadzushi." As will
be seen in the chapter on "Joseki,"
it is the least conservative of the
three usual openings.
3- P3- .
5. D 17. This move secures this
corner for White.
7. N3. ("Ikken tobi") M 3
would be too far.
Black
2. R 4. Called "Komoku," the
most usual and most conservative
method of commencing the corner
play.
4. Q5. Intended to attack No.
3, and also it commences to make
territory on the right side of the
board.
6. O 4. Continues the attack on
No. 3.
8. R 10. Black tries to make
territory on the right side.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
69
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
fllH 19
ABCDEFGHJ
(§) PLAYED AT Q 10 IN "KO"
#ft) PLAYED AT O 9 IN "KO"
KLMNOPQRST
Plate 14
7°
THE GAME OF GO
White
9. F 3. ("Kogeima.") This is
the usual move.
11. C3.
13. C 4. ("Nobiru.") Giving
aid to No. 1 1.
15. C5.
17. D2.
19. C 2. ("Tsugu.") This move
is necessary.
21. F 4. Supporting No. 9.
"Ikken tobi" would be dangerous.
23. G6.
25. K 17. Aiming to make terri-
tory at the top of the board.
27. N 4. This is necessary to
lead out the stone at N 3. "Ikken
tobi" would be dangerous.
29. O5.
Black
10. C 7. ("Ogeima. ") This is
the usual reply. See the chapter
on "Joseki."
12. D3. Cutting off No. II.
14. D5.
16. C6. ("Osaeru.") Black
could not do this before.
18. E2.
20. E 3. ("Tsugu.") White now
has the corner, but Black has possi-
bilities of expansion.
22. E 6. Connecting and at the
same time attacking White.
24. Cll. Making territory on
the left side of the board.
26. L 3. Precipitate.
Comment by Honinbo Sbuye :
"Black's twenty-sixth move is pre-
mature, and it has the effect of pre-
cipitating the contest too early in the
game. The territory around that
point is dangerous ground for Black.
N 17 would have been better."
28. L 5. Leading out toward the
center. ("Ikken taka tobi.")
Comment by Honinbo Sbuye :
"Black should have played at H 4.
White would then play at F 2, and
Black would reply at E I."
30. H 3. Taking territory.
Comment by Honinbo Sbuye :
"Black should still play at H 4."
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
7i
White
31. F 2. Preventing the connec-
tion of the two Black groups.
33. G 1.
35. H 2. Protecting the connec-
tion at G 2.
37. F6.
39. G 8. This move prevents
White from being shut in.
41. H8. ("Nobiru.")
43. G 7. Necessary to connect.
Black
32. Fi. ("Haneru.")
34. E 1. ("Tsugu.") This series
of moves is necessary and often
occurs in the game.
36. J 3. Black must connect,
otherwise the stone at H 3 is lost.
38. F 8. Aiming to make terri-
tory.
Comment by Honinbo Sbuye :
"This move does not hit the spot.
It should have been played at
L7."
40. G9.
42. F 7. Black completes his
frontier.
44. F 10. This secures the con-
nection at F 9, and at the same time
extends.
45. K 4. White threatens to
break through in two places.
47. H 9.
49. Gil. This connects White's
groups and prevents Black from ex-
tending.
51. P4.
gives
53. M 6. This mo\
White the "Sente."
55. P 7. Leading out the small
White group.
46. L4.
48. L 7. Leading out the stones
on line L, which are now threatened.
50. Qj.
52. Q_j. Making territory on
the right and at the same time attack-
ing White's five stones.
54. L 6. Black must connect.
56. N 8. A dangerous move.
72
THE GAME OF GO
White
57. P8.
59. 0 6.
61. M 2. Since White is cut off
at O 7, he must form "Me" in this
group.
^63. Q_8.
65. R8.
67. S9.
69. P5. ("Atari.")
71. Q.10.
73. R 9.
75. O 10. White must sacrifice
No. 71 in order to escape.
77. N9.
79. P9.
81. T 10. ("Haneru.")
83. Q_io. Taking in "Ko."
85. T 9. Saving the stone at
Tio.
87. O 11.
89. L 10.
91. 0.13. White must break up
Black's territory in the upper right-
hand corner.
93. Mn. White retreats.
Black
Comment by Honinbo Shuye :
"This move may be called a little
dangerous. P 6 would have been pre-
ferable, and if White responds at O 8
or O 7, Black could reply at L 9."
58. P6.
60. O7. ("Kiru.") Cutting off"
connection of the white groups.
62. K 9. Black sees that White
can form the necessary two "Me,"
and therefore does not press the
attack.
64. R 7. Black must extend in
this way.
66. S8. ("Osaeru.")
- 68. S 7. ("Tsugu.") The usual
series of moves.
70. Q_6.
72. Qn
74. P 10. ("Sente.")
76. S 10.
78. M8.
80. Q_9. Takes. This is "Ko."
82. Til. ("Osaeru.")
84. Pn. ("Tsugu.") Black
must play here to save the frontier.
86. R 11. Black cannot neglect
to play here.
88. L 11.
90. K 10.
92. P 12.
94. M 10.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
White
Black:
95.
Ll2.
96.
L 9. Takes. White has es-
caped by means of sacrificing one
stone.
97.
Pl3.
98.
O 12.
-k99.
NI2.
100.
O13.
D 101.
*. 103.
S 12.
c
Nozoku.")
102.
K12.
O14.
104.
N13.
("Shicho.")
105.
L13.
106.
P14.
Cuts White off.
107.
P15.
108.
Q.I4-
109.
Q.15.
110.
R 14.
111.
R15.
112.
are ob
S 14.
viously
All these last moves
necessary.
113.
O15.
c
'onnecting.
114.
S15.
115.
R16.
116.
M 14.
Comment by Hontnbo Shuye :
"This
move is
; a mistake; it should
have b
een pla)
'ed at M 15."
J 117.
K14.
V
/hit
e's stones in the
118.
M 16.
e
upper left-hand corner are now con-
nected.
119. G 10. A defensive move.
White attempts to get all his stones
in one group.
121. J 12. Protects the connec-
tion at H 10.
123. J 13.
125. N 11.
127. L 15.
129. Q17.
131. N 17.
133. Q18.
135. M 17.
120. F9. ("Tsugu.")
122. J 11.
124. N 10. Protecting the "Me"
at L 10. K 11 is "Kageme."
126. O 17.
128. M 15. White's situation in
the upper right-hand corner looks
very bad at this point.
130. R18. A better move than Q.1 6.
132. N 18.
134. S 17.
136. N 16. White is prevented
from connecting.
74
THE GAME OF GO
White
137. M 18.
139. M 12. White must con-
nect.
141. Q19. This is to prevent
"Watari."
143. S 16.
145. T 15. A sacrifice to pre-
vent Black from forming "Me."
147. R 13. The condition in
this corner of the board is now a
fine example of "Semeai."
149. S 18.
151. S 19. The situation is now
highly interesting.
• 153. R 17.
155. P 16. Takes. forming a
perfect "Me," the other being at
R 18. The play in this corner is
now complete.
157. B 5. Protecting the corner.
159. H 11.
161. K 16.
Black
/
163. F 17.
165. H 16.
167. H 15.
169. D 16.
171. G 15.
138. M 13. Threatening White's
other connection.
140. P 18. To an inexpert eye
White's group in the upper right-
hand corner now looks hopeless.
142. O 16. Black must play here
to protect his four stones.
144. T 16. ("Watari.")
146. T 14. Black must take the
stone.
148. S 13.
150. T 18.
152. R 12. White's sacrifice at
T 15 is now bearing fruit.
154. T 17. Neither side can
play at T 19 without loss.
156. C 13. Increasing Black's
territory.
158. G 13.
160. L 16.
162. F 15. Extending • Black's
frontiers.
164. J 15.
Comment by Honinbo Sbaye :
"Black's moves 164 and 166 are
both useless. At move 164 Black
should have played at D 15."
166. G 16.
168. D 15.
170. D 14.
172. B 15.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
75
White
1
\
173. B 16.
175. P2.
177. Cm.
179. P i.
181. C 1 6. We might say that
the end game commences at about
this point.
183. Lz.
185. A 7.
187. G 17.
189. H 13. A very good move
to protect White's group.
191. B6.
193. A 6.
195. B 14.
197. A 15. Takes.
199. L 18. Completing the
frontier.
^ 201. K 18.
1 203. F 11.
205. E 16.
207. H 14.
209. E5.
•'211. H5.
213. H4.
215. G3.
N 217. J 8.
Black
174. C 14. Completing the
frontier.
176. Q_2.
178. R 1.
180. R 2. The usual series of
moves in such a situation.
182. J 2.
184. K3.
186. F 16.
188. F 13. The stone at G 13
needs support.
190. A 8. Stopping White's in-
vasion.
192. B 7.
194. B 8. The usual moves.
196. B 13.
^198. L 17
200. M 19.
202. J 6. All the rest of the
board is practically finished.
*204. E 11.
206. E 15.
G14.
E 12.
- 212. J 5.
214. J 4.
216. J 9.
Comment by Honinbo Shuye :
"This move is unprofitable. Had
Black played at J 8, a very good
profit would have been secured."
218. E 4.
208.
210.
76 THE GAME OF GO
White Black
219.
F5-
220.
Di.
221.
Ci.
222.
D6.
223.
o9.
224.
M9.
225.
Ki3.
226.
Kn.
227.
J 7-
228.
H6.
229.
Hio.
230.
G12.
231.
Hl2.
232.
K7.
233.
N7.
234.
0 8.
235.
S 5. By sacrificing one
236.
0.4.
stone White forces Black to fill two
spaces.
237.
T8.
238.
T7-
239.
J I-
240.
K2.
241.
Ki.
242.
A 13.
243.
L 19.
244.
N 19.
245.
P19.
246.
O18.
247.
A 14.
248.
L 14.
249.
K15.
250.
M5.
251.
N5.
252.
K8.
253.
Q.9. ("Ko tsugu.")
Black must connect.
Here the game is left as finished in the published report,
but the remaining moves are not all strictly speaking
"Dame." There are quite a number of moves to be made
before we can proceed to the count. The first question is,
naturally, what stones are dead, and we find that White
has three dead stones at S 12, S 5, and K 4. Black has three
dead stones at J 15, O 4, and R 18. The white stones at
P, Q, and R 13, are not dead yet. They have aggressive
possibilities, and must be actually surrounded. As near as
we can judge the game would proceed as follows :
First : Necessary although obvious moves which are not
strictly "Dame."
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 77
White Black
254. Q.I2. The three white
stones must be taken before Black
is safe.
255. R ig. White must take this 256. T 15. A necessary connec-
before filling T 19. tion.
257. N 6. Necessary to form
connection.
Second: The following moves which are strictly "Dame."
It makes no difference which side fills these intersections,
but it would generally be done as follows :
White Black
258. T 19.
259. O 19. 260. P 17.
261. N 15. 262. N 14.
^263. F 12. 264. J 10.
265. H 7. 266. M 7.
267. M4. 268. M3.
The frontiers are now absolutely in contact, and the
count can be made, and it will be seen that after filling up
the vacant territory with the captured stones as far as they
will go, Black has won by three points. The Japanese
would rearrange the board in order to make the counting
of the spaces more easy ("Me wo tsukuru"), but for the
first game or two the beginner might find it less confusing to
omit this process.
Honinbo Shuye comments on this game as follows :
" In spite of so many errors, Black wins showing how
great is the advantage resulting from a handicap."
78
THE GAME OF GO
II
Plate 15
White. — Murase Shuho, seventh degree.
Black. — Uchigaki Sutekichi, fifth degree.
This game is taken from Korschelt, and the notes are
his. In some of these notes will be found mere repetitions
of matter that I have inserted in the preceding chapters,
or which will be hereafter found in the chapter on " Joseki."
These notes are, however, very full and valuable, and a
little repetition may have the effect of aiding the memory
of the student, and will do no harm. Contrary to the cus-
tom, this game was played without handicaps.
Black
White
1. R 16. In the beginning of the 2. D 17.
game the corners and margins are
first occupied, because it is there
that positions can most easily be
taken which cannot be killed,
and which also contain territory.
From the edges and corners the
player makes toward the center.
This process is repeated in every
game.
3. Q_3. In taking a corner that
is still vacant there is a choice among be commenced at P 16.
seven points; e.g., in the corner
designated as D 4, these points are
D 3, D 4, D 5, C 4, C 5, E 3, and
4. P 17. The attack could also
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
79
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 15
8o
THE GAME OF GO
Black
E 4. On the other hand, C 3 and
E 5 are bad, because the territory
which is obtained by C 3 is too
small, and the adversary would re-
ply to E 5 with D 4, by means of
which E 5 would be cut off from the
margin. Of moves that are good
D 3-C 4 are the surest, and most
frequently used. E 4-D 5 formerly
were the favorite moves, but the
preceding moves are now preferred
to them. E 3-C 5 are seldom used.
All of this, of course, applies to
the corresponding points in the
other three corners.
5. C4.
White
7. O 4. Beginners would have
replied to Q_6 with Q_5 or R 5.
They attack their opponent at close
quarters from the beginning, be-
cause they cannot take in the whole
field at a glance. Their entire effort
is to absorb the last stone that their
opponent has played. When two
beginners play together the battle
6. Q_6. Corresponding to No. 4,
this move should have been played
at R 5 or Q_5, but White plavs on
Q6, because if he played on Q5,
Black would have replied at R 10
or R 9, and later White P 5 and
Black O 4 would have followed,
with the result that White has
nothing, while Black has obtained
two positions, one on 0-Q_ and
the other on R.
8. D 15. The position D 15-
D 17 is very strong, and players like
to take it. This applies, of course,
to the corresponding positions in
other parts of the board, of which
there are seven; i.e., C 16-E 16,
Q3-Q5, etc. As soon as one player
gets a position of the kind his oppo-
nent often takes a similar position on
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
81
Black
moves slowly from a corner out over
the board, and one side of the board
is entirely filled with stones, while
the other is completely empty. This
is a sure sign of bad play. In the
beginning the good players spread
their stones over the board as much
as possible, and avoid close con-
flicts.
9. E4.
11. R 13. In place of taking this
secure position on line R, Black
should have attacked the white
stone on P 17 with L 17, and in this
way Black would have obtained
positions on both line 17 and on
line R.
13. D5.
15. B4.
17. E6.
19. F6.
White
the next move in order to balance
the advantage gained by his adver-
sary; this is something like castling
in Chess.
10. C 10. If White did not oc-
cupy this point, we might have the
following continuation:
B. C 10 W. C 7
B. C 13 W. E 7
and Black has the advantage, be-
cause White's stones at C 7-E 7 can
only get one "Me" on the edge of
the board, and later on must seek a
connection with some other group.
By constantly harassing such en-
dangered groups territory is often
obtained.
12. C 5. White sees that Black
plays too carefully, and therefore
challenges him with a bold but pre-
mature attack that gives the whole
game its character.
14. C6.
16. D6.
18. E7.
20. H 3. As soon as Black an-
swers this move, White will take
territory on the right or left of H 3.
82
THE GAME OF GO
Black
21. G 2. Is played very care-
fully. K 3 would probably have
been better. In that case White
would either have played H 5 in
order to save H 3, whereupon
B. F7 W. E8
B. K5
would have followed, or White
would have answered at K 4.
23. H 2. The only correct an-
swer would have been K 3, which
would have separated White's twen-
tieth and twenty-second stones.
25. 0 6.
27. K 17. All good players agree
that 27 should not have been
played at K 17, but at L 17. This
is difficult to understand because
K 17 can be supported from both
White
22. M 3. Two stones which mu-
tually support each other on the
margin of the board and form a
position cannot be separated by
more than two spaces; for instance,
R 13-R 16. In that case the ad-
versary cannot cut one off from the
other. (Korschelt here inserts con-
tinuations similar to what we have
shown in a preceding chapter.)
Therefore, White's twentieth and
twenty-second moves are merely
intended to fill territory that would
otherwise fall to Black, and are not
intended to form a new group.
24. M 5. White seeks to form a
connection with No. 6, which Black
frustrates by his twenty-fifth move.
It is of the greatest importance to
prevent the union of groups which
the adversary has formed on the
margin, in order that they may re-
main weak, and require continuous
defense.
The player who has the "Sente"
most of the time will generally be
the victor.
26. Q_9. Is very necessary in
order not to surrender the entire
right side to Black.
28. H 17. This move has the
effect of abandoning stone No. 4 at
P 17. After Black's twenty-ninth
move at N 17, No. 4 could still
escape by means of P 15, but giving
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
83
Black
sides at G 17 and N 17, but L 17 is
better because Black should be
occupied not merely with taking a
position, but more particularly with
killing White's fourth stone. In the
sequel K 17 is actually taken by
White.
'
29. N 17.
31. G7.
flae
10 Hi.
UAot/e.
33.
D8.
35.
Du.
37.
D 12.
39.
D13.
41.
G9-
White
it up brings more territory elsewhere
than is there lost. It is a favorite
device of strong players to appar-
ently abandon a position to their
adversary after first preparing it so
that eventually it may live, or so
that it may afterward aid in sur-
rounding one of the adversary's
groups. The abandoned position
often reawakens to life if the
weaker adversary allows his sur-
rounding group to be itself sur-
rounded and taken before the
capture of the abandoned position
has been completed.
30. F7.
32. K 3. It might have been
better to have played at G 8. Then
if Black replied at H 7, White could
play at C 10, and the white terri-
tory in the neighborhood of line D
would be very large. Certainly in
that case H 3 would have been
abandoned, but not M 3-M 5.
Since 32 K 3 is purely defensive,
Black gets the attack, and appreci-
ably reduces the white territory in
the neighborhood of line D.
34. D 7.
36. C 11.
38. C 12.
40. C 13.
42. G 6. If this move had not
divided the black groups, Black
would have become too powerful.
84 THE GAME OF GO
Black White
43. H 7. 44. E 9. This connects the two
parts of the White position, which
connection was threatened by
Black's thirty-third stone. More-
over, the "Sente" remains with
White, because Black cannot allow
his position to be broken into
through F 10.
45. G 12. 46. di4.
47. R 14. 48. R 17.
49. S 17. 50. Q16.
51. R 15. 52. R n. The beginner will
wonder that 52 Q15 did not follow
51 R 15. This is because 53 R 10-
54 R 9 would result, and White
would be at a disadvantage. The
moves 46-52 are part of a deeplv
thought-out plan on the part of
White. Black could afford to ignore
No. 4 as long as it stood alone.
Thereupon White increases it by
Nos. 48 and 50, and Black must
accept the sacrifice, because other-
wise Nos. 27-29 are threatened. By
this sacrifice White gets the territory
around No. 27, and also has an
opportunity of increasing his position
on line Q.by his fifty-second move.
53. O 16. 54. M 16. On the fifty-third
move Black proceeds with the cap-
ture of Nos. 4, 48, and 50, while
White on his fifty-fourth move hems
in No. 27.
55. H 16. This move is ignored 56. M 17.
by White because Black must reply
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
85
Black
to his fifty-sixth and fifty-eighth
moves in order to save Nos. 29 and 53.
57. N 18.
59. Q15.
61. J 16.
63. E 16.
65. G 17.
67. P 16. This is necessary to
avoid the following continuation:
W. P16, Oi5,Ni6, O14
B. P15, N 15, O 17, P18
and White has the advantage.
69. D 14.
71. R5.
73. E 15. It is of the utmost
importance to Black to occupy this
point, for otherwise White would
press far into his territory through
this opening. He goes first, how-
ever, on his seventy-first move to
R 5, because White must follow,
and then to 73, because on this
move he loses the "Sente." Black
could also have occupied S 5, to
which White would have replied with
S 6, because otherwise the following
continuation would have occurred : :
B. S 5, S 6, S 8, R 8, Q.8
W. E 15, S 7, T 7, R 7
and the White position is broken up.
It is because Black played at E 15
too hastily and without first occupy-
ing S 5 that White can break up the
Black position by the series of moves
Nos. 74-82.
White
58.
M18.
60.
J 17.
62.
K18.
64.
D16.
66.
K16.
68. K 15.
70. C 14.
72. R6.
74. Q_5_ Murase Shuho thought
that 74 was a bad move and that
S 5 would have been better. The
game would then have continued
as follows:
B. 73, E15, R4
W. S 5, S 4
He also thought that White's moves
from 76-82 were bad, because
nothing in particular was accom-
plished by separating O 4 from
O 6, since it was impossible to kill
them.
76.
0.4.
78.
?3-
80.
o3-
82.
P4-
84.
L8.
86.
F3-
88.
F4.
90.
G5.
92.
J 6-
86 THE GAME OF GO
Black White
75. S5.
77. R 3.
79. P2.
81. O2.
83. N8.
85. O 10.
87. G3.
89. E3.
91. E 5. Black has played on
this point because otherwise E 6-F 6
will die; thus,
W. E 5, B. F 5 takes
W. E 5 retakes
93. G 4. This is intended to se- 94. H 14. From this point on,
cure H 2, G 2 and G 3. The sim- the territory in the center is filled
plest way of doing this would be to up. Black and White seem to get
play at F 2, but G 4 gains six more it in about equal parts.
"Me" because F 3-F 4 may be re-
garded as taken.
95. L 10.
97. H 11.
99. E 14.
101. G 10.
103. Gil.
105. Qjo.
107. P8.
109. O9.
111. P 10.
113. N7.
115. Lg.
117. J 9.
> 119. J 10.
121. A 7. This move is worthy
of study.
123. N2. 124. J 5.
96.
J 11.
98.
F 14.
100.
H 10
102.
H 12,
104.
0 8.
106.
R 10.
108.
P9.
110.
O7.
112.
R8.
114.
P7-
116.
K8.
118.
K12.
120.
N6.
122.
B7.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 87
Black White
125.
E18.
127.
G18.
129.
M12.
131.
Fn.
133.
En.
135.
S13.
137.
L 12.
139.
M13.
141.
Kn.
143.
A 6.
145.
B5.
147.
A 5.
149.
S6.
151.
M8.
153.
D19.
155.
E 19.
157.
N3.
159.
L2.
161.
K2.
163.
F2.
165.
F17.
167.
H 18.
169.
G19.
171.
P15.
173.
O19.
175.
O17.
177.
s4.
179.
R12.
181.
O13.
126.
Dl8.
128.
G13.
130.
F 12.
132.
E io.
134.
S 12.
136.
Nl4.
138.
Ll3.
140.
L 14.
142.
J 12.
144.
A 8.
146.
B6.
148.
B8.
150.
S7.
152.
M 6. Not at M 7, because
that would lead to the loss of K 8-
L8.
154.
C19.
156.
C18.
158.
N4.
160.
L*
162.
F5-
164.
E17.
166.
H 19.
168.
J 18.
170.
P14.
172.
N19.
174.
M 19.
176.
R4-
178.
T6.
180.
S 11.
182.
O14.
183. P 13.
This is as far as the game is recorded in the Go maga-
zine, published by Murase Shuho. A good player can now
88
THE GAME OF GO
foresee the result at the cost of a little trouble. Black has
won by five points.
According to Korschelt's view, the play would have
proceeded as follows:
Black
185.
T4-
187.
S3-
189.
Gi6.
191.
H8.
193.
Nl2.
195.
J 7-
197.
F8.
199.
Dio.
201.
J'5-
203.
J 19.
205.
Q.11.
207.
F16.
209.
Ji-
211.
M7.
213.
H4.
215.
N15.
217.
K 10.
219.
Mi.
221.
M15.
223.
Fq.
225.
P12.
227.
T14.
229.
H 19.
Takes.
White
184.
T5-
186.
T7-
188.
G15.
190.
J 8.
192.
N13.
194.
M 14.
196.
K7.
198.
E8.
200.
D9.
202.
J H.
204.
K 19.
206.
F15.
208.
J2-
210.
J3-
212.
L7-
214.
J 4-
216.
K9.
218.
M2.
220.
Q.I3-
222.
L15.
224.
Q.12.
226.
Ti3-
228.
T12.
The stones that are still to be played are "Dame." By
playing these no "Me" can be either won or lost, and for
the most part it makes no difference whether they are filled
up by Black or White. These are as follows:
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
89
O 15, N 16, H 5, H 6, F 13, E 13, H 5, H 15, F 10, E 13
E 12, H 15, F 10.
Black has sixty-four "Me" and White fifty-seven
"Me."
Ill
Black. — Ito Kotaro, fifth degree.
White. — Karigane Junichi, sixth degree.
This game was played in Tokio about January, 1907,
and is a fine illustration of the rule of "Ko." No handicaps
were given.
Black
I. C4. ("Komoku.") Black be- 2. Qj.
ing the weaker player, adopts a
conservative opening.
3. D17.
5. E 3. The opening is conven-
tional so far.
7. F16.
9. C18.
II. E 17.
13. R 15.
15. R 11.
17. N17.
19. P 16. White's stone at Q.17
is now shut in. If the black stone
at N 17 were at M 17, White could
have escaped.
21. O 17. 22. S 16.
23. R 16. 24. R 17.
25. S 15. 26. S 17.
White
4.
C15.
6.
C 9. This is an unusual
I move.
8.
C17.
10.
D16.
12.
Q.17.
14.
R6.
16.
K3-
18.
D 12. Not
the best
move.
P16
would have b
een better.
This
part of the game is
generally devoted
to the general distribution of
stones.
20.
P17.
9°
THE GAME OF GO
Black
27. P18.
29. O 19. Probably not the best.
O 15 would have had greater possi-
bilities.
31. J 16. Not the best. O 15
would have been better.
33. Q15.
35. O 16.
37. R13.
39. Q_u.
41. Ph.
43. R 8. Not the best move. N 11
would have been more aggressive.
45. K17.
47. L 16.
49. L15.
51. K18.
53. L 18.
55. H 16.
57. H 15.
59. H 14.
61- J 13.
63. O 10.
65. N 10.
67. K 12. An ineffective move;
B 17 would have been better.
69. B 18.
71. F 18. Black must defend his
corner, which is already much re-
duced in size.
White
28. Q_i8.
30. S 19. The corner is a typical
Go problem. White had to place
this stone very carefully in order to
provide for the necessarytwo "Me."
32. Q_i6.
34. P 15. Cutting Black's con-
nection. The necessity for a black
stone at O 15 is now apparent.
36. P 14.
38. Cm 2.
40. P12.
42. M 13.
44. K 16. White now com-
mences a series of moves to break
up Black's territory at the top of
the board.
46. L 17.
48. K15.
50. J 17.
52. H 17.
54. J 15.
56. G 16.
58. G 15.
60. G17.
62. O 11.
64. N 11.
66. M 11.
68. B 17.
70. F 15.
72. A 18.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
9i
Black
73. G 19.
75. K 14. The three white
stones, J 15, K 15, and K 16 are
dead. They were sacrificed in order
to break up Black's territory at the
top of the board.
77. M 16.
79. Q7.
81. P8.
83. Q.9. Takes.
85. O 13. An effort to deprive
the white group of the necessary
"Me" and to envelop them.
87. N 13.
89. L 10.
91. K 10. Kn would not do;
White could break through in that
case.
93. S 12.
95. S 10.
97. S 14.
99. T13.
101. N 12.
103. M9.
105. J 11.
White
"Watari."
White is now shut in.
74. L 14.
76. M 15.
78. Q8.
80. R 7.
82. S 8.
84. R 9.
86. O 14.
88. N14.
90. L 11.
92. R 12.
94. Q.13.
96. R 14.
98. S 13. Takes.
100. L 12.
102. M 10.
104. K 11.
106. O 12. White saves his
group in this way because he can get
the position called "Magari shimo-
ku wa me" no matter what Black
does.
107. R4.
108.
0.4-
109. R3.
110.
R2.
111. S2.
112.
Q.2.
113. S 5.
114.
Q.6.
115. Si. Black's corner is small,
116.
Q.8.
but it will surely live.
Takes. "Ko.
92
THE GAME OF GO
Black
White
117.
P7-
118.
P9.
119.
R8.
JS.O.
120.
T3-
An effort to destroy
the corner.
121.
S3-
122.
Q.8.
"Ko."
123.
Pio.
124.
N4.
White eventually wins
the game by
means of the territory-
he now maps
out.
125.
E16.
126.
E15.
127.
D 14.
"Nozoku."
128.
D15.
129.
c7.
130.
J 10.
131.
L8.
132.
H 11.
133.
J 12.
134.
J9-
135.
Gn.
Not very
good.
136.
N8.
Black
should have played
at
K8.
137.
N9.
138.
K8.
139.
L9.
Black must play h
ere
140.
B4.
to protect his
two stones.
141.
B3-
142.
D4.
143.
C3-
144.
c5.
145.
C6.
An unusual
way
of
146.
N6.
playing the corner.
^47.
L6.
148.
K5.
149.
K6.
150.
J5-
151.
J 6.
152.
H6.
153.
H7.
154.
Gio.
155.
Fn.
156.
G7.
157.
G6.
158.
H5.
159.
G8.
160.
F7-
161.
F8.
162.
H8.
163.
J 7-
Note how th«
: center
164.
F 10.
fills up
> with<
jut either side
getting
territory there.
165.
E8.
166.
E7.
167.
E 11.
168.
E 10.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
93
Black
White
169.
Dn.
171.
D7.
173.
E5.
175.
C14.
177.
R8.
"Ko.
weak
move. White's position is already
better, and Black should play at
B 14, where he might have a chance
to kill White's group, in the upper
left-hand corner.
179. B 13.
181. C 12.
183. L 7.
185. C8.
187. B5.
189. A 4. Takes.
191. B 7.
193. A 6. Takes.
195. E4.
197. J 8.
199. R8. "Ko."
201. H 19.
203. O9. Takes.
205. G 4. Invading White's ter-
ritory.
207. E 2.
170.
D8.
172.
F5-
174.
F6.
176.
M7.
178.
B14.
White's group is now
safe.
180. A 14.
182. B 16. This is an interest-
ing problem. If White plays at
B 15, Black could kill the group.
184. D5.
186. D9.
188. B6.
190. D6.
192. B 8.
194. F 2. Defending his large
territory on the lower edge of the
board.
196. Q8. "Ko." Attacking
Black's group which has still to
form the necessary two "Me."
198. H 9. White cannot afford
to fill the "Ko" at R 8.
200. G i€.
"Ko." Returning to
202. Q8
the attack.
204. E 6.
tion.
206. G5
A necessary connec-
Takes. White must
do this or lose ten stones.
208. G3.
94 THE GAME OF GO .
Black White
209. P6.
210. P5.
211. M5.
212. N5.
213. M4.
214. M3.
vasion.
This ends
215. F4.
216. Q14.
217. R 13.
218. B 19.
"Sente."
219. D 18.
Black must
connect.
220. S 13.
"Ko."
221. R 5.
222. Q5.
223. R 13.
"Ko." Black
must
224. J 18.
win this "Ko
or lose five
stones.
225. J 19.
226. S 13.
"Ko."
227. L4.
"Sente."
228. L3.
229. R 13.
"Ko."
Bl
ack's
230. H 12.
group is now
safe.
231. S 13.
"Ko tsugu.'
»
232. E 13.
233. B 10.
234. B9.
235. F 13.
236. E 14.
237. G 14.
238. H3.
239. S 6.
240. D3.
241. D2.
242. C 10.
243. Cll.
244. B 11.
245. R 8.
"Ko."
246. M 6.
247. L5.
248. Q8.
"Ko."
249. R 1.
250. Q_i.
251. R 8.
"Ko."
252. S 7.
253. S 9.
254. Q_8.
"Ko."
255. E 12.
256. D 13.
257. R 8.
"Ko."
258. G 12.
"Sen te."
259. F 12.
260. Q8.
"Ko."
261. F3.
262. G2.
263. R 8.
"Ko."
264. T4.
265. T2.
Black must
de
fend
266. Q8.
"Ko."
lis group.
267. T 16.
268. T 17.
269. R 8.
"Ko."
270. T6.
White
272.
Q.8.
"Ko."
274.
R 19.
276.
P19.
"Ko."
278.
Q.8.
"Ko."
280.
T=*8.
S 1 Is
282.
N15.
284.
K13.
"Ko."
286.
L13.
" Ko tsugu."
288.
Q.8.
"Ko."
290.
R8.
"Ko tsugu."
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 95
Black
271. T 5. Black must stop the
White advance.
273. Q.19.
275. R8. "Ko."
277. O 18.
279. S-rS.^if Black can also
1 play at T^9, White's corner is dead.
P 281. R8. "Ko."
283. L 13. Purposely starting
another " Ko."
285. B 12.
287. A 11. Takes.
289. C 13.
291. K9. Black must form an- >292. O 6.
other "Me" for this group at once.
293. J 4. 294. H 4.
295. K4. 296. C2.
297. B 2. 298. E 1.
299, C 1. Takes. 300. J 3.
301. T9. The game is prac- 302. N 16.
tically over at this point.
303. J 14. Taking three stones. 304. O 8.
305. T 19. Takes. 306. O 7. ^
307. y 9. Connecting. 308. T 15. Takes. ^ X
309. T8. 310. C 19.
311. F 17. 312. A 13.
^ £ 313. A 12. 314. A 17.
\ O 315. D 19. 316. A 19.
" 317. R 10. 318. A 9.
|P 319. A 10. 320. Q19. "Kotsugu."
^ -0 321. A 7.
The game as published ends at this point, but there
still remain moves to be made that are not strictly "Dame."
White must kill the three black stones at E 8, F 8, and G 8,
96
THE GAME OF GO
as that portion of the board is not quite disposed of, and
"Seki" might easily occur if White plays badly. The game
might continue as follows:
Black
323. G 13.
325. H 13.
327. A 8.
329. D 10.
331. D 1. Stopping White's ad-
vance.
White
322. F 1.
324. E 9.
326. H 10. White must connect.
328. F9.
330. G 9. White must take the
three stones.
332. T16. "Tsugu."
The following moves are strictly "Dame":
F 14, H 18, M 8, O 15, T 14. Either side can fill these
"Me."
The following stones are dead and can now be re-
moved :
White. — K 8, L 17, T 3, T 4.
Black. — N 12, N 13, O 13, S 18.
White wins by four stones. After the dead stones are
used to fill up the vacant spaces, and the board is rearranged,
it will be found that White has fourteen "Me" and Black
ten "Me."
More than the usual number of moves were made in
this game.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
97
IV
Plate 1 6
White. — Hirose Heijiro. fifth degree.
Black. — Nagano Keijiro, fourth degree.
Black has a handicap of two stones. (D 4 and Q 16.)
Played March, 1907, in Tokio. Both players were of
the Hoyensha School.
When this game was published, it was annotated by
Mr. Iwasaki Kenzo, and I have translated his annotations;
these are indicated by the initials "I. K."
White
1. R4.
3. E17.
5. C 11. To prevent Black form-
ing territory on the left side.
7. O3.
9. R 14. White breaks into
Black's territory at once.
11. O 17.
13. N16.
15. P 17.
17. Q.13.
White must look out
for the stone at R 14.
19. O 13.
Black
2. C 16.
4. D15.
6. C 7. P 3 would have been
better. (Iwasaki Kenzo.)
8. R 10. This move is called
"Moku Shita." It is one of Murase
Shuho's inventions.
10. R6.
12. O 16. These moves will be
found in the chapter on " Joseki."
14. O 15.
16. Q.17.
18. R 15. This move secures
the corner, and at the same time
protects the connection of Black's
stones on lines O and Q. "Ikkyo
ryo toku."
20. N 14.
98
THE GAME OF GO
White
21. L 17. Replies to Black's last
move.
23. S 14.
25. G 17.
27. Pio.
29. C 14.
31. C13.
33. D 11.
35. E 11.
37. F 12. White cuts off. This
is an aggressive move.
39. G 12.
41. G13.
43. D 8. White provides an es-
cape for stones on line 11.
45. H 10.
47. D7.
49. D6.
51. F6.
53. J 10. White cannot risk
jumping farther.
55. H 17. Not good. K 8 would
have been better. (I. K.)
57. C 8. Good, but not the best.
M 12 would have helped the white
stones near the center.
59. J 14. White retreats.
61. L 14.
63. L 12.
Black
22. Q14.
24. F 16.
26. S 15. Secures the corner.
28. Q8. P 6 would have been
better. (I. K.)
30. D 14.
32. D 12. Not the best move.
M 3 would have been better.
(I. K.)
34. E 12.
36. F 11.
38. F 13. G 14 would have been
better. (I. K.)
40. F 10.
42. F 14.
44. H 15. H 14 was better, as
White dare not cut off at G 14.
(I. K.)
46. F8.
48. C6.
50. D5.
52. H 9. Black must provide an
exit for his stones on line K. \~
54. H8.
56. K 8. Black promptly es-
capes.
58. L 10. Black commences an
attack on White's five stones.
60. J 15.
62. L 15.
64. } 12. This is a "Sute ishi,"
but it greatly aids Black's attack.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
99
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
§ PLAYED AT L17 IN "KO" @ PLAYED AT 5 12 IN "KO"
PLAYED AT L17 IN KO" © PLAYED AT K17 IN "K0"
§ PLAYED AT L19 IN "RO" © PLAYED AT K17 IN "K0"
PLAYED AT K17 IN RO"
Plate i6
100
THE GAME OF GO
White
65. K 12. Not a good move.
By reason of this Black's sixty-
eighth move is made possible.
(I. K.)
67. J 13. Another move which
arrests the development of the game.
(I. K.)
69. K 18.
71. J 17.
73. K 16. Takes.
75. P 8. White abandons the
field and plays elsewhere.
77. 0 8.
79. F4.
81. F2.
83. F 7. White perfects his con-
nection.
85. Q_9.
87. Q.7.
89. P6.
91. O7. Takes.
93. C 18. Stronger than C 17.
95. S4.
97. P 14.
99. R 13.
101. L17. Takes in "Ko."
103. K 3. Invading Black's ter-
ritory. White can connect on either
side.
105. H 2.
107. J 3.
Black
66. K 15.
68. K 17. Attacks White's stones
at the top of the board.
70. L 18.
72. M 17.
74. L 16. Black's attack on the
upper right-hand corner is now well
developed.
76. P7.
78. H 5.
80. H3.
82. D2.
84. M3.
86. R 9.
88. R8.
90. M 5. Black enlarges his ter-
ritory at the bottom of the board.
92. S 5. Forming "Me" for the
side group.
94. K 17. Takes in "Ko."
96. R 12.
98. Qi 5.
100. T4.
102. M 18.
104. L4.
106. G3.
108. J 4.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES • 101
White
109. G2.
111. E2.
113. L 8. Threatening Black's
territory. If Black defends, White
can connect somewhere.
115. J 6.
117. L 6. White's attack on this
territory is very fine.
119. K4.
Black
110. M 7.
112. C 3. If Black plays at D 3,
White could reply at D I with the
"Sente."
114. K9.
116. H6.
118. L7.
120. K5.
121.
J 5-
122. K6.
123.
H4-
Takes.
124. S3.
125.
R3-
126. S 2.
127.
J 7-
128. M 9. Black cannot neglect
this — the whole center of the board
might be lost.
129.
R2.
130. H 7.
131.
T15.
132. S 17. Better than T 16, as
it provides for "Me" in the corner.
133.
S 12.
134. S 11.
135.
L 19.
136. K 17. Takes in "Ko."
137.
N9.
138. N8.
139.
L17.
Takes in
'Ko."
140. M 16.
141.
N7.
142. M 8.
143.
B17.
144. B 16.
145.
B8.
146. M 12. Threatening to sur-
round the ten white stones in the
center.
147.
E9.
148. F9.
149.
K14.
Forming
"Me"
for 150. G 11.
roup i
n center.
151.
H 11.
152. H 14.
153.
Mn.
154. H 13.
155.
H 12.
156. M 13.
KU
THE GAME OF GO
White
157. L n.
159. B 6. B 5 might have been
more aggressive.
161. B 7.
163. N5.
165. N4.
167. N2.
169. G5.
171. B 12.
173. E 18.
175. P 12.
177. E 16.
179. R 5.
181. R 1.
183. Q_5. This part of the board
is now completed.
185. A 5.
187. A 6.
189. Mf
191. K2.
193. J 19.
195. L 19. Takes in "Ko."
197. F 18.
199. C 17.
201. D 19. "Watari."
203. D 10.
205. M 10.
207. K 10.
209. P9.
211. K 13.
213. M 14.
Black
158. S 1. This move is worth
five or six points.
160. B 5.
162. C5.
164. N6.
166. L2.
168. M 2. Otherwise White
would play at L 3.
170. A 13. This stone is con-
nected with stone at B 16. This
move often occurs.
172. D 17.
174. Qi2.
176. T 16.
178. E 15.
180. S 7.
182. Q6.
184. M 19.
186. A 4.
188. B4.
190. L3.
192. K 19. Takes.
194. K 17. Takes in "Ko."
196. F 17.
198. D 18.
200. D 16.
202. E 10.
204. E8.
206. Qio.
208. L9. Takes.
210. L 13.
212. N 12.
214. N 13.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 103
White Black
215.
Nil.
216.
Ol2.
217.
On.
218.
O14.
219.
P13.
220.
D9.
Takes.
221.
c9.
222.
Qn.
223.
Ph.
224.
J 16.
Takes.
225.
G16.
226.
F15.
227.
N3.
228.
M6.
229.
T14.
230.
T12.
231.
T13.
232.
S13.
Takes.
233.
P15.
234.
P16.
235.
S 12. Takes in
"Ko."
236.
Tn.
237.
E3-
238.
0 6.
239.
O5.
240.
A 17.
241.
A 18.
242.
A 16.
243.
A 12.
244.
B 14.
245.
B13.
246.
A 14.
247.
D3-
248.
C2.
249.
M15.
250.
N15.
Black wins, the report says, by "Ichi ban," which means
anything up to ten "Me." According to my continuation,
Black won by seven "Me."
V
Plate 17
This is a game between a Japanese player and a beginner.
It is inserted solely to show the character of the mistakes
which beginners are likely to make. Such errors never
occur in games between good players, and therefore this
game may be more useful to a novice than the games con-
tested between players of greater skill.
Played May 7, 1907.
Black has a handicap of five stones.
104
THE GAME OF GO
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
® PLAYED AT H 16 IN "K0" © PLAYED AT H 17 IN "KO"
(fit) PLAYED AT H 17 IN "K0" (2$) PLAYED ATP"
Plate iy
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 105
White Black
I. C 14. 2. E 3. Bad; too close to the
handicap stone. Besides it is better
to respond to White's attack in the
same part of the board.
3. O 3. 4. C 15. This would be too con-
servative if the players were any-
thing like equal.
5. R 14. 6. D 6. Much better to play in
one of the right-hand corners. C 6
would be better also.
7. F 17. 8. P3. O4 is much better.
9. R6. 10. Q.14.
II. S 16. This would not be 12. O 4. Black should reply to
played against a good player. White's last move.
13. N 3. 14. D 8. Unnecessary; much
better to play in one of the threat-
ened corners.
15. C 3. 16. C 4. B 4 would be better.
17. B3. 18. D2.
19. D3. 20. E2.
21. B5. 22. B4.
23. A 4. 24. C2.
25. B 8. 26. D 5. Over cautious.
27. C 7. 28. D 7. Unnecessary; Black
could gain a decisive advantage at
B6.
29. B6. 30. C8. Too near the White line,
a common mistake of beginners.
31. B 9. 32. B 2.
33. A 3. 34. C 9. Too near; Black can
jump one or two spaces with much
better effect.
35. C 10. 36. D 10.
37. C 11. 38. D 14.
39. C 13. 40. D 12. At this point Black's
41.
Ci7.
43.
Bi3.
45.
Bl2.
47.
D17.
106 THE GAME OF GO
White Black
position is good enough, as his line
on D is very strong.
42. B 14.
44. C 12. Black gains very little
by this.
46. B 15.
48. B 16. Very bad; Black has
the whole board to gain ground in
elsewhere.
49- E 16. 50. D 15. If Black feels he must
play here, D 13 is better.
52. E13.
54. D11.
56. E 14.
58. E 11.
60. F II. If Black hopes to save
his group in the upper left-hand cor-
ner, he must escape toward the
center at this point.
Black's group is now 62. A 14. Black cannot possibly
form "Me"; this move is merely
wasted.
64. E 9. Too cautious.
66. H 11.
68. F 10. Black forms "Me" in
this group long before it is threat-
ened, while he might gain ground
elsewhere.
Another lost move.
51.
D13.
53.
E12.
55.
F13.
57.
G12.
59.
F 12.
61.
F14.
>pel
ess.
63.
J3-
65.
G3-
67.
Gn.
69.
Gio.
71.
F4.
73.
G8.
75.
H9.
77.
H 10.
79.
G7.
81.
G6.
70.
A 16.
72.
E4.
74.
Go.
76.
F9.
78.
F8.
80.
F6.
82.
G5.
Should have been
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 107
White Black
played at F 5.
83. F 5. 84. J 10. Black should play
nearer the edge of the board. J 10
is radically wrong.
85. K 8. 86. H 13. Black tries to form a
living group in the center without
support; this can seldom be done.
87. H 12. 88. J 11.
89. J 13. 90. H 8.
91. J 8. 92. H 7. These stones are hope-
less from the start. Black should
play in the right-hand corners.
93. H 6. 94. J 7.
95. L 7. 96. J 6.
97. H5. 98. J 5.
99. G4. Takes. 100. J 9.
101. M 6. 102. N 5. M 5 would be much
better.
103. M5. 104. K4. Black adds more
stones to his already hopeless group.
This is one of the commonest mis-
takes.
105. Mf 106. J 12. Black should jump
to the right, say at M II.
107. K 13. 108. G 14. F 15 might have'
helped Black.
109. F 15. 110. H 4.
111. J 4. 112. F 7.
113. H 3. Takes. 114. E 6. Unnecessary. Black
should play somewhere in the un-
occupied portion of the board.
115. M 12. 116. A 13. Wholly wasted un-
less Black were an expert.
117. B 11. 118. B 17.
119. B 18. 120. C 18.
White
121.
Di8.
123.
C 19. Takes.
125.
B7-
127.
Ll3.
129.
M 10.
131.
Nn.
133.
N13.
135.
M9.
137.
M8.
139.
K7.
141.
P5-
108 THE GAME OF GO
Black
122. A 18.
124. C6.
126. K 12. Like all beginners,
Black keeps his stones too close
together. M 10 would be bet-
— ter; —
128. L 12.
130. Mil.
132. L 11.
134. L 10. Black again adds
stones to a dead group.
136. L8.
138. L9.
140. 0 6.
142. O 2. S 4 would have been
much better.
143. N2. 144. N 1. Black overlooks that
he must connect at P 2. This is a
common error of novices.
146. J 14.
148. J 16.
150. K 15. Black tries to form
another living group. His only
chance was near Qi4-Q_i6.
152. L 14.
154. K 14.
156. M 15.
158. G 16. Black again adds to
a hopeless position.
160. H 17.
162. H 15. Black thinks he has
the necessary "Me." Two of them,
however, are "Kageme."
164. J 18.
166. G 18.
145.
P2.
147.
K16.
149.
Ki7.
151.
L15.
153.
M 14,
155.
M13.
157.
L 16.
159.
G17.
161.
G15.
163.
H 18.
165.
J *7-
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 109
White Black
167. H 16. Takes, "Ko." 168. A 2. Black plays this cor-
rectly.
169. A 5. 170. H 17. Takes, "Ko."
171. H 19. 172. K 18.
173. H 16. Takes, "Ko." 174. L 18.
175. H 17. "Ko tsugu." 176. M 17. Black has a chance
to make some territory in this part
of the board.
177.
Ol7.
178.
N16.
179.
Q.17.
180.
O15.
181.
P16.
182.
Q.15.
183.
P15.
184.
R17.
185.
R16.
186.
Q.18.
187.
P17.
188.
R15.
189.
S17.
190.
R13.
191.
S 14.
192.
P14.
193.
Sl5.
194.
O13.
Black should live,
although he
has gained little
space.
195.
Nl4.
196.
P12.
Black should have
occupied O 14.
197.
014.
Black's groups are
198.
N18.
now se
parated.
199.
O 18.
200.
P 18.
201.
R 18.
Takes.
202.
O 12.
203.
N 12.
204.
E15.
This is pure waste.
205.
M 19.
If Black had played
206.
E17.
here
his g
roup would have
lived.
207.
ei8.
Takes.
208.
A 12.
209.
An.
210.
O16.
Too late; this group
is hope
less now.
211.
Q.11.
212.
Q.12.
213.
R 11.
214.
On.
215.
Oio.
216.
Q.2.
no
THE GAME OF GO
White
217. O I. Takes.
219. P4.
221. Q_5.
223. R4.
225. P 10.
227. F2.
229. G 1.
231. F3.
233. R 3.
White permits Black to play
again.
White permits Black to play
again.
237. L 19.
White permits Black to play
again.
White permits Black to play
again.
White permits Black to play
again.
242. S 19.
244. R 17.
Black
218. M 1. This is nonsense;
Black might still save the corner by
correct play.
220. Qj.
222. M 2. If Black played at S 5
he would still have a chance.
224. O5.
226. R 12.
228. F 1.
230. E 1.
232. C 1. Black wastes one of
his few vacant spaces.
234. N 19.
235. L 17.
236. J 19.
238. M 18.
239. P 19.
240. N 17.
241. R 19.
243. O 19.
"Dame" — E 5 and C 5. White wins by one hundred
and ninety-seven spaces and eighty-eight stones.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
in
VI
Plate 1 8
White. — Inouye Inseki.
Black. — Yasui Shintetsu.
Played December, 1835. No handicaps were given.
This game is from a Japanese work called "Kachi Sei
Kioku." The notes are taken from Korschelt, and
as in the previous instance involve the repetition of
some things that have been touched on in the preceding
chapters.
Black
I. R 16.
3- Q.3-
5. C4.
7. Q5. This may be the best
play under the circumstances. The
secure position Q.3-Q.5 supports
the advance posts at C 4 and R 16
in equal measure.
9. P16.
II. Q.15.
13. P15.
15. R 14.
17. Q.13.
White
2. D 17.
4. P17.
6. C 14. Just as good as D 15,
which we already know.
8. Q.14.
10. Qj6.
12. Q_i7.
14. R 15.
16. S 15.
18. N 17. The eighth stone
played at Q_ 14 cannot be saved.
If White attempts to save it, the
following would be the continua-
tion:
112
THE GAME OF GO
Black
White
19. P 14. Takes. S 14 prob-
ably would have been better, because
it would have retained the "Sente"
for Black; that is to say, a play which
the opponent is compelled to an-
swer, or otherwise sustain too great
a loss. Had Black played at S 14,
White must have answered at S 16,
in order not to lose the stones at
R 15-S 15, and also the corner,
which is worth about fourteen " Me."
To White's play at S 16 Black would
probably have answered at R 12
and thus obtained a secure posi-
tion.
21. R 9.
23. J3-
25. C5.
27. C6.
29. C7.
B.
W.
P14
P13
O13
O12.
O14
P12
N13
O 1 1 etc.
If White had had an opportunity of
placing a stone on the line of retreat
at say E 3, then White could have
saved No. 8. (This has already
been explained in defining the
Japanese expression "Shicho.")
20. S 16.
22. E3.
24. D 5. This is analogous to
No. 8, but it is not advanced so far
because Black has already occupied
J 3-
26. D6.
28. D7.
30. D8.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
IJ3
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
ABCDEFGH.I KLMNOPQRST
@ PLAYED AT J 7® AT RIO© AT P12(K0)@AT P13(K0)© AT P 12(K0)
©ATP13(KO)®ATP12(K0)©AT Q 14 @) ATP13(K0)©AT P12(K0)
(g)AT P13(K0)(g) AT P12 @)AT S ll(KO)®AT S 12(kd)©AT S 11
Plate i8
ii4
THE GAME OF GO
Black
31. C9.
33.
35.
37.
39.
41.
D3-
C2.
C3-
F3-
E4.
Black compels White
to take 41, in order to make good
his escape.
43.
45.
47.
49.
51.
53.
55.
57.
59.
61.
63.
G3-
G4-
G5-
F6.
J 2.
H6.
J 7-
P4-
Q.2.
O5.
0 6.
"Sente."
White
32. L 3. White has established
the long line on D and allowed
Black a large territory in order to be
able to occupy L 3. If he had
played there immediately in answer
to Black's twenty-third move, then
either L 3 or E 3 would have been
in great danger.
34. D2.
36. D4.
38. L5.
40. F2.
42. E2.
44.
F4-
46.
F5-
48.
K2.
50.
E5.
52.
H7.
54.
G7.
56.
P3-
58.
o3-
60.
O4.
62.
N5.
64.
K7.
Takes.
65. K 3. "Sente." White must
An interesting attack
that determines the course of the
game for a long time. 65 J 8,
would mean abandoning the po-
sition on G-J (26 "Me"), but it
would give an opportunity for a bold
attack. If Black played 65, J 6,
his stones would scarcely sur-
vive.
66. L 2.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES
ii5
Black
reply to it, or he would find him-
self without the necessary "Me" in
that group.
67. K6.
69. L6.
71. K 5. Avoids "Ko" and
nevertheless assures a connection.
73. L 7.
75.
J 5-
77.
K8.
79.
O7.
81.
L9.
83.
0 8.
85.
Kn
87. Qjo.
89. R 11.
91. S 10. Takes.
93. R 10. Q.I2 would probably
have been better; at all events it
would have been surer, because it
assures the connection by way of
Pn after White has taken. If
White does not take, but plays at
P 11, his stones on the edge of the
board will die.
95. L 11.
97. L 14.
99. K 13.
101. K 14.
103. S 14.
105. T 15.
107. On. It is certain that
White
68. J 8.
70. J 6. Takes.
72. N6.
74. K 4. Is played for the same
reason as No. 66.
76. N7.
78. J 7.
80. N8.
82. J 10.
84. N 10.
86. R 10. Now the effect of the
mistake at move 19 begins to be
apparent.
88. Q_n.
90. R 12.
92. S 11.
94. M 11. This move separates
P 14 from K n, and is at the same
time "Sente" as regards the black
stones near K, because if Black
does not answer, these stones would
be cut off by W-K 10. Moves Nos.
98, 100, and 102 isolate the black
stones in the neighborhood of P 14.
96. Q12.
98. L 13.
100. M 13.
102. M 14.
104. S 13.
106. N 15.
108. O 12.
n6
THE GAME OF GO
Black
either the eight black stones or the
five white stones must die, and on
this depends the result of the game,
because it would make a difference
of about 40 "Me."
109. P 12.
111. O 13.
White
113.
Oio.
115.
M16.
117.
T14.
119.
P12.
"Ko."
121.
K12.
123.
R17.
125.
P12.
"Ko."
127.
Pio.
129.
D16.
131.
P12.
"Ko."
133.
Q.14.
Connecting.
135.
S 18.
137.
P12.
"Ko."
139.
L8.
141.
E17.
143.
C17.
145.
C15.
147.
E18.
149.
B15.
151.
E 16.
153. B 14.
155. B 13.
157. B 12.
110.
Pll.
112.
N12.
114.
P13.
Takes, "Ko."
116.
T 16.
118.
O 16.
120.
J 12.
122.
Pi3-
"Ko."
124.
S17.
126.
R13.
128.
P13.
"Ko."
130.
C16.
132.
T13.
134.
Pi3-
"Ko."
136.
R 18.
Takes.
138.
Kg.
140.
P*3-
"Ko."
142.
P12.
Connecting. White
would
have h
ad another "Ko" at
M 10.
144.
D18.
146.
B 16.
148.
C18.
150.
D15.
152.
B 17.
Takes. The series
of moves from 143 to 152 should
be carefully
noted, as they fre-
quentlj
r occur.
154.
C13.
156.
C12.
158.
Cu.
ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES 117
Black White
159. F 14. "Sente." 160. D 14.
161. B 11. 162. C 10.
163. B 9. Is not played at B 10 164. D 9. It would have been
in order to retain the "Sente" better to play at K 17.
without conceding too great an ad-
vantage.
165.
K17.
167.
G13.
169.
G11.
171.
F15.
173.
E n.
175.
G 12.
177.
Fu.
179.
Du.
181.
D 12.
183.
H17.
185.
J i7.
187.
Fl3-
189.
G18.
191.
M 17.
193.
Pi.
195.
Q.I.
197.
N18.
199.
H5.
201.
M18,
203.
A 10.
205.
B 1.
207.
B2.
209.
Gio.
211.
T11.
213.
S 12.
215.
B8.
Takes.
166.
H14.
168.
H13.
170.
G 14.
172.
J 11.
174.
F 12.
176.
E 12.
178.
E 10.
180.
Dio.
182.
H 16.
184.
G17.
186.
E13.
188.
G16.
190.
G6.
192.
P2.
194.
Oi.
196.
L4-
198.
G 2. "Sente." It threat-
ens the
: three black stones on J and
K.
200.
O18.
202.
B 10.
204.
Ci.
206.
Di.
208.
F 10. C 8 ought to have
been occupied first.
210.
G9.
212.
T12.
214.
C8.
216.
Sn. "Ko."
n8 THE GAME OF GO
Black White
217. T 10. 218. E 19.
219. F 19. 220. F 17.
221. F 18. 222. M 15.
223. L 15. 224. J 15.
225. N 16. 226. O 17.
227. H 10. 228. H 9.
229. K 10. 230. J 9.
231. M6. 232. O9.
233. P9. 234. N9.
235. M 5. 236. M 4.
237. O 19. 238. P 19.
239. N 19. 240. A 15.
241. A 14. 242. A 16.
243. H 2. 244. J 4.
245. L 12. 246. M 12.
247. G 1. 248. F 1.
249. H r. 250. K 16.
251. L 16. 252. K 1.
253. S 12. "Ko." 254. C19.
255. S 11. Connecting. 256. D 19.
White wins by seven stones.
VI
*JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
From the earliest times the Japanese have studied the
opening of the game. Especially since the foundation of
the Go Academy there have been systematic treatises on
this subject, and for keen and thorough analysis, these
treatises have nothing to fear from a comparison with the
analogous works on Chess openings. There is, however,
a difference between the opening of the game in Chess and
the opening in Go, because in the latter case the play can
commence in each of the four corners successively, and
therefore, instead of having one opening, it might be said
that there are four.
The Japanese masters usually overcome this difficulty
by treating a corner separately, as if it were uninfluenced
by the position or the possibility of playing in the adjacent
corners, and in their treatises they have indicated where
the first stones in such an isolated corner can advantageously
be played. These stones are called " Joseki." As a matter
of fact, these separate analyses or "Joseki" differ slightly
from the opening of the game as actually played, because
it is customary in opening the game to skip from one corner
to another, and the moment a few stones are played in any
corner the situation in the adjacent corners is thereby influ-
enced. It is due to this fact also that in their treatises on
the "Joseki" the Japanese writers do not continue the analy-
119
120 THE GAME OF GO
sis as far as we are accustomed to in our works on Chess.
While this method of studying the openings persists to the
present time, one of the greatest of the Japanese masters, Mu-
rase Shuho, compiled a series of openings which correspond
more closely to our Chess openings; that is to say, the game
is commenced, as in actual play, all over the board, and is
not confined to the study of one corner as in the case of the
conventional " Joseki." Korschelt, in his work on the game,
inserts about fifty of these openings by Murase Shuho, with
notes that were prepared by the Japanese master especially
for the use of foreigners, and I have selected a few of these
in addition to the collection of "Joseki" which we will first
consider.
The work from which my "Joseki" have been selected
was compiled by Inouye Hoshin, and published in Novem-
ber, 1905. It was originally written for the "Nippon Shim-
bun," a newspaper published in Tokio. Of course, the
annotations accompanying these "Joseki" are not the
original ones from the Japanese text. Many of the things
which I point out would be regarded as trite and obvious
to a good player, and my annotations are intended solely
to aid beginners in understanding some of the reasons for
the moves given. It must also be understood that the
series of "Joseki" which I have inserted falls far short of
completeness. In a Japanese, work on the game there
would be at least five times as many.
Although the "Joseki" have been studied by the Jap-
anese masters from the earliest times, it does not mean that
the ordinary player in Japan is familiar with them; just as
in this country we find a majority of Chess players have a
very limited acquaintance with the Chess openings, so in
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS 121
Japan many players attain a fair degree of skill without a
thorough acquaintance with the "Joseki." It would cer-
tainly very greatly aid the beginner in attaining proficiency
if he were to study these examples, and follow them as nearly
as possible in actual play.
It would seem to us that in compiling a work on " Joseki, "
or openings, we would commence with the openings where
no handicap is given, and later study those where there were
handicaps; it is another instance of the divergent way in
which the Japanese do things that they do just the opposite,
and commence their treatises with the study of openings
where handicaps are given. Inasmuch as this is a book
on a Japanese subject, I shall follow their example and shall
commence the study of " joseki" in games where Black has
a handicap.
As we have already seen, the handicap stone is always
placed on a certain fixed point, which is the fourth inter-
section from the edge of the board in each direction, and
White has five recognized methods of playing his first stone
in relation to such handicap stone. These are called
"Kogeima kakari," "Ogeima kakari," "Daidaigeima
kakari," "Ikken taka kakari," "Nikken taka kakari."
We shall take up examples of these in their order.
I
Handicap
Plate 19 (A)
White Black
1. R 14. "Kogeima kakari." 2. N 17. This move supports the
This is the most usual move for at- handicap stone and also gains as
tacking the corner. The purpose of much ground as possible for Black.
122
THE GAME OF GO
White
White's first move is to lay a basis
for future aggression; he cannot, of
course, play in the corner immedi-
ately, neither can he play nearer the
black stone with advantage.
3. R 17. This is a direct attack
on the corner. White can either
connect with his first stone or form
a living group in the corner.
5. S 16. White threatens to con-
nect.
7. S 17. White cannot play at
R 15 at this time because he would
lose the stone at S 16.
9. P 18. Since White cannot
connect, he must play to form two
"Me" in the corner.
11. Q_i7- White makes his cor-
ner as large as possible. This move
is also "Sente," because it threatens
to break through Black's line.
13. S 14. White threatens "Wa-
tari," and again Black must reply
at once. ("Sente.")
15. Q14. To confine Black's
group and prepare for territory on
the right side of the board.
Black
Beginners would generally find O 17
more safe and conservative.
4. R 16. Black plays to prevent
the connection of the white stones.
6. S 15. Black breaks the con-
nection by this move.
8. R 15. Black also must con-
nect. Beginners are prone to neg-
lect these necessary connecting
moves.
10. P 17. Black plays to connect
his stones, and at the same time con-
fines White to the corner.
12. O 17. Black must connect
to prevent White's escape.
14. T 14. Prevents "Watari."
16. P 15. An important defen-
sive move. Otherwise White could
almost envelop the black stones.
Even game. White has a small territory in the corner,
but Black has greater possibility of expansion.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
123
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
IS « — 1 — 1 — r~r-i — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
fG^
|
— fn4
\(fc
*
_Jwi
ft
yy^
"l
f
yflJ/Vl
k>®-
_X
y —
(\
-#3
t\
~^
A
c
14
S^xj
v
—Q
~is
\)
c
\
D
\
J
-A
f\
B
9\t
^
\j
Kft
^
v
(*
\i
\)\J
r>
\c
D
^
-ci
1^
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRS'
Plate 19
124
THE GAME OF GO
II
Handicap
White Black
1. R 14. 2. N 17.
3. R 17. 4. R 16.
♦'5. Q_i7- In place of trying to 6. P 16. Black prevents White
connect as before, White threatens from getting out.
to extend in the other direction.
7. S 16. Threatens to connect
again.
9. S 17.
11. O 18. White again must
form "Me" in the corner.
13. N 18. White extends as far
as possible.
15. P 17. White must look out
for the safety of the stones at N and
O 18.
17. P 14. To prevent Black's
extension and form a basis for terri-
tory on right side.
19. O 13.
8. S 15. Black stops it again.
10. R 15.
12. O 17.
14. M 18. Black stops the ad-
vance.
16. M 17. Black must connect.
18. O 14. Black extends as far
as he can.
20. N 14.
Again White has the corner and Black has better oppor-
tunities for expansion.
Ill
Handicap
Plate 19 (B)
White
1. O3. 2. R7.
3. Q_3- This variation is called 4. R 3.
Black
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
J25
White
" Kiri Kaeshi." This move does not
attack the cornet so aggressively as
the preceding examples.
5. R 4. This is the characteris-
tic move of this variation.
Black
6. Q5. This is an important
move for Black; if he plays else-
where, he will get a bad position.
8. S3.
7. R 2. White threatens the
black stone. If Black defends
White can divide the corner.
9. P 2. "Kaketsugu." If White
does not make this move, Black will
get the "Sente" with a superior
position.
11. S 1. White cannot neglect
this move. If Black were allowed
to play at R 1, he would get the
better game.
In this opening the corner is about evenly divided.
IV
10. S 2. Formerly S 4 was given
as Black's move, but it is not so good,
because White replies at R 8 with
a fine attack.
12. R5.
Handicap
White
1. R 14.
3. P 14. Preparing for "Kiri
Kaeshi" on the other side of handi-
cap stone.
.5. P16.
7. Q17. "Kiri Kaeshi." The
effect of this move is generally to
divide the territory.
9. Q.18.
Black
2. N 17.
4. R 11. Called "Tenuki." Not
necessarily played at R n. The
word means that Black "draws
out" and plays in another part of
the board.
6. P 17.
8. R 17.
10. R 18.
126
THE GAME OF GO
White
Black
12.
O17.
14.
Q.15.
16.
Rl5.
18.
S15.
20.
P15.
11. PI8.
13. R 16.
15. S 18.
17. S 16.
19. S 17.
White has the corner, but Black has better chances to
make territory later.
V
Handicap
Black is supposed to have another handicap stone at D 4.
Plate 19 (C)
1. C14.
White
"Kogeima."
3. H 17. White confines Black's
advances.
5. B 16. White plays to take the
corner.
7. C15.
9. C17.
11. H 15.
13. B 18.
15. B 17.
Black
2. F 16. "Ikken taka hiraki."
This "Joseki" was an invention of
Murase Shuho.
4. C 11. Black prepares to get
territory on left side of the board.
6. D 14.
8. D 13. Better than D 15, as it
confines White more effectively.
10. D 17.
12. C 16.
14. C 18.
16. C 13. A very good move; it
shuts White in the corner and assures
Black a large territory on the left
side of the board.
This opening might be continued as follows:
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
127
17. D 18.
19. C 19.
White
Takes.
18. E 18.
20. D 7.
Black
17. C6.
19. B 13.
21. B 14.
18. D 18.
20. B 12.
22. C8.
VI
Handicap
$v
pv
Black is supposed to have stones at O 4 and 04 a!
these are called "Shiki ishi."
so;
1. F3.
White
"Kogeima.
3. F 5. White must get out
towards the middle of the board.
5. D 6. White attacks the handi-
cap stone.
7. E2.
9. B6.
11. C 5. C 7 would be good
also.
c
Black
2. H 3. By this move Black at
once attacks the white stone and
also prepares to connect with the
stone at O 4.
4. L 3. "Tenuki"; that is, it
has nothing to do with the corner
in dispute; Black feels he has an
opportunity to take territory. It is
interesting to note that if the "Shiki
ishi " at O 4 were at N 3, then Black
would play No. 4 at H 5.
6. D 2. This is an important
defensive move.
8. B 5. Black tries to escape.
10. C6.
12. C7.
128
THE GAME OF GO
White
13. B4.
15. C4.
17. B7.
19. E 6. White must support
stone at D 6.
21. A 4.
23. A 6. Takes two.
25. A 3. The corner is now an
example of "Semeai"; the question
is which side can kill the other first.
27. A 2.
29. D 1.
Black
14. D5.
16. C3.
18. C8.
20. A 5. This is a very well con-
sidered move for Black.
22. B3.
24. B8.
26. B2.
28. B 1.
30. A 8. If Black plays at C 1,
the corner will become "Seki," as it
is, the white group is dead.
Black has much the best of this variation.
VII
Handicap
Black is supposed to have a handicap stone at Q 4 also.
Plate 19 (£>)
White
1. F3.
G4.
E3-
G5.
9. J 5. White's best move.
Black has the better position
Black
2. F 4. "Tsuke te." Again
Black takes the aggressive from the
start.
4. F5.
6. D3.
8. G6.
10. D6.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
129
VIII
Handicap
Plate 20 (A)
White
Black
1. 017.
" Kogeima."
2. O 16.
"Tsuke te,
3. N16.
4. O 15.
5. Q.17.
6. P17.
7. P18.
8. P16.
9. N 18.
10. R 17.
11. Q.18.
12. N 15.
13. M 16.
14. R 10.
Black aba
15. R 16.
17. S 16.
19. S 17.
at R 17 in order to get territory;
an amateur might be tempted to
play No. 14 at R 18, but in that
case White could spoil Black's
chance to get space on the right
side of the board.
16. R 15.
18. S 15.
20. Pio.
White has the corner, but Black has practically secured
a large territory on the right.
IX
Handicap
White
Black
1. R 14.
3. Q.13.
2. Q.14. "Tsuke te.
4. P14.
130
THE GAME OF GO
White Black
5. O 17. White attacks from the 6. R 15,
other side also.
7. R 13. 8. P18.
9. N 16. 10. S 14.
Black has the corner. White has a chance on both sides.
X
Handicap
White
I. R 14. "Kogeima."
3. Q.13.
5. O 17. White attacks from the
other side as before.
7. P17.
9. P 16.
II. R 15.
13. R 12.
15. S 12.
17. N 16.
19. M 17.
21. M 18.
23. M 16.
25. Q12.
Black
"Tsuke te."
2. Q.14.
4. P 14.
6. O 16. Black responds from
the outside as in the case of move
No. 2.
8. Q.17.
10. R 13.
12. Q_i5.
14. S13.
16. N 17.
18. O 15.
20. N 18.
22. N 13.
24. T 13.
26. S 15.
Black has the corner and also an outlet to the center.
White has a chance to form territory on both sides. Black's
position is preferable.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
l3l
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
X | XX |
(*C\ £% r\\ ' i fl^f^vitfTilfl^
\DJ %f \oJ 1 \ \}J%sW^2J^Xf^^
f\ ' ^1 i^r^i^'tf^/^^fc ici 7
v7 , w lyivj/UwW^vu/
-w- ^\S%u ^AJNJsr^
JvC A
T^
^►,1
Kn <> BH
fn ck)(k)
, UJ D 1^)S(
Op IS/ P\ vr^^yj
H! i ii (\) X i
-®®+0©®-- -^ — (i^-<3^-®a)<!Eh
@ ^^©ffi® ^®w
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
©(DIAGRAM D)TENUKI
Plate 20
132
THE GAME OF GO
XI
Handicap
Black is supposed to have a stone at D 4 also.
Plate 20 (B)
White
1. R6.
3. O 3. White attacks the right-
hand corner from both sides.
5. Qj.
7. R 3. This is a direct attack
on the corner.
9. R 7. White must connect.
11. Q.2.
13. R2.
15. M 3. White must extend his
boundaries or his stones will die.
Black
2. K 3. This move is an inven-
tion of Murase Shuho; it would not
be played unless Black had a stone
at D 4. Black's intention is to de-
velop territory in either corner de-
pending on the nature of White's
attack.
4. Q.6.
6. P6.
8. R 5. Black must play here
before playing at Q.3. It also gives
Black the "Sente."
10. 0.3.
12. S 2. This is a clever move.
Amateurs would be tempted to plav
at P 2, which would be very bad for
Black, as White would then get the
entire right side.
14. S 3. Secures Black's con-
nection with R 5.
16. K 5. Black plays to shut in
White as much as possible; he also
supports his stone at D 4.
Black has the better game.
JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
*33
White
XII
Handicap
Plate 20 (C)
Black
2. C15. This
1. C 13. "Ogeima Kakari." This 2. U 15. 1 his is to prevent
is another method of commencing White from playing at B 16.
the attack; it does not attack the
corner so directly, but it gives
White a better chance on the sides
or center.
3. G 17. White attacks from the
other side in the same way.
5. C 17. This is a "Sute ishi"
or sacrificed stone. White threatens
to connect it with one side or the
other.
4. E 17. Preventing White from
entering at D 18; this secures the
corner for Black.
6. B16.
The game is about even; if White does not play at C 17
on the fifth move, Black gets much the better of it.
White
1. N 17. "Ogeima
XIII
Handicap
Kak;
3. R 14. White attacks the other
side with "Kogeima."
Black
2. P 17. Preventing the entry
at Q.18.
4. S 15. Very important move
for Black; if Black makes a move
elsewhere at this point ("Tenuki,")
White gets much the better of it.
134
THE GAME OF GO
XIV
Handicap
Plate 20 (D)
White Black
I. C7. 2. C5.
3. G 4. "Nikken taka kakari." 4. E 2. A very important move;
This is another method of attacking if Black plays "Tenuki," White can
from the other side. at once enter the corner.
Suppose Black does not play No. 4, E 2, but plays else-
where, then the following continuation might occur:
White
5. D2.
7. E2.
9. G3.
II. G2.
13. C3.
15. B 3. 16. D b. Black must get
17. B 6. Threatening "Watari."
19. H 1.
21. B 1. By means of this move
the white stones in the corner live.
White has the better of it.
Black
4.
1 enuki.
6.
E3-
8.
F3-
10.
F2.
12.
Gi.
14.
B4-
16.
D6.
Black must
towai
d the
center.
18.
B5.
20.
F 1.
XV
Handicap
White
1. N 17.
3. Q14. This is another method
Black
2. P17.
4. O 15. Black plays to get out
JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
J35
White
of attack, called "Ikken taka ka-
kari"; it does not give White a base
for attacking the corner immediately.
5. N 15. White also plays out
toward the center, otherwise Black
would shut him in at M 16.
7. M 15.
9. Q.13.
11. R 11. Beginners might play
at Q_I2; this is always bad play.
13. L15.
Black
toward the center, as White's third
move does not menace the corner.
6. N 14.
8. P 13. Amateurs might play
at O 14; the text move protects the
connection and extends also.
10. P12.
12. M 14.
14. S 15. Protecting the corner
against the white stone at Q13.
Even game.
White
1. M 17. "Daidaigeima"; not
so much used as the other attacks.
3. R 14. "Kogeima." White
attacks from the other side.
5. P 16. White threatens the
XVI
Handicap
Plate 21 {A)
Black
2. O 17. Black defends the cor-
ner from that side.
4. S 16. Black again prevents
the advance into the corner.
6. P 15. P 17 looks like the
connection between the handicap obvious defense, but this would
shut Black in the corner and give
White the better game.
stone, and No. 2, otherwise Black
would play at R 12, with the advan-
tage.
7. P17. 8. Q17.
9. O 16. 10. P 18.
11. O 18. 12. O 15.
136
THE GAME OF GO
White
13. N 16. Much better than im-
mediately taking the single black
stone.
15. R 12. Much better than
R 13; in that case White would lose
both stones.
17. S13.
Black has the better of it.
Black
14. Q13. This attacks the
white stone at R 14; it also defends
the connection at Q.15.
16. R13.
18. Q.14.
H3-
C6.
5. D6.
7. F6.
9. J 4.
11. G3.
13. J 3-
XVII
Handicap
White
Black
2. F3.
4. C 5. This is an alternative
method of defending the corner.
6. F 5. Black plays to avoid
being shut in the corner, also it can
be demonstrated if he neglects this
move his stones will be killed.
8. H4.
10. H5.
12. F 2. This is a good move.
F 4 would be weak. The text move
defends and at the same time
threatens White's stones on line 3.
F 4 would give White a chance to
play elsewhere ("Tenuki") which
is a great advantage.
14. E 5. Black cannot neglect
this move, or White can break in
with a winning attack.
Again Black has the better of it. He has a chance to
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
lV
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19 i — I — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
I
L
T
M.*W
<h
mk
^s
v
— /fr
V
vl^
VjyvDy^P
f.
F\_
v *\i/
*h^
r^i
u
\J^
T
C
/
^
T (\
i) i
^17V-
■*i T
\\
5^
T
<h-
T
1)
B
Trl
/^
h
f\
V5^
T
--C1
•S
T
T\((
i\_
vJ
f
-©d
T ff
<MsV-
y
^
<
b-
\
xfc
i) —
#1
T
ih
1 ^
\JVD
mk-
c
D-
\
V
fi
V
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 21
138
THE GAME OF GO
play at J i on the next move. The relation of this stone
to the stone at F 2 when at the edge of the board is called
"Ozaru," or the "great monkey," and it generally gains
about eight spaces. This is also shown among the ex-
amples of end positions.
XVIII
White
1. C8.
3. E 2. This is another method
of trying to get in the corner
5. D3.
7- C3.
9. C4.
11. F2.
13. B4.
15. G4.
Black has the better of it.
Handicap
Black
2.
C6.
;thod 4.
D2.
6.
E3.
This is the
crucial move
of thi
is variation; if Bl;
ick plays
No.
6 at
C3, 1
ie gets the
corner,
but
White gets
the better ]
game.
8.
C2.
10.
D5.
12.
B3-
14.
B2.
16.
E4-
XIX
Handicap
Plate 21 (B)
White
1. O 4. "Ikken taka kakari."
This is the fourth method of com-
mencing the attack.
Black
2. Q_6. This is
answer.
Black's best
JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
'39
White
3. R8.
5.
Q,IO.
side.
7.
N5.
9.
M6.
11.
P3-
13.
0 8.
15.
S6.
17.
R5.
19.
R6.
21.
o3-
Qio. White defends on one
White must get out.
Black
4. P J. Black intends to follow
up this move on one side or the other,
the two points being Q.O. and M 3.
This is called "Hibiku," or "to
echo."
6. M3.
8. M5.
10.
M4.
12.
0.3-
14.
L6.
16.
S5.
18.
s4.
20.
P4-
22.
S2.
Black prepares to form
"Me" in the corner.
White must now play at O 6 to save his stones on the
left side.
This "Joseki" is very much spread out; it is difficult to
say who has the better of it.
XX
Handicap
White
1. D 14.
3. C 15. This is not White's
best move; it is done to confuse
Black, and will win if Black does
not know how to reply.
5. C13.
7. B15.
Black
2. C 14. Not so good as F 16.
4. D15.
6. B 14.
8. B 13. D 13 would be bad.
140
THE GAME OF GO
White
9. C 17.
11. C18.
13. D13.
15. D 19.
17. B 16.
19. A 17.
21. C 19.
A 16 would not do.
23. B 18. White plays on the
only point to save the corner.
25. D 12.
27. D 11.
Black has the better game.
Black
10.
D
l7-
12.
C
12.
14.
1)
18.
16.
c
16.
18.
A
i5-
20.
E
19.
22.
F
18. '
'Kak
e tsugu."
Black
must
protect
his connection
; this
situation
arises
; freq
uently.
24.
F
J5-
26.
C
11.
28.
C
10.
XXI
Handicap
Plate 21 (C)
Black
2. F 16. Black has a variety of
moves at his command; the text
move is probably best.
4. C 10. Really "Tenuki."
Black can play equally well at C 7.
6. C 16.
8. B 17.
Black has the corner and White has commenced to en-
velop his stones. The following continuation might occur:
White Black
5. F 18. 6. D 18.
7. E 17. 8. C 15.
Black's last move in this continuation is interesting, be-
White
1. D 13. "Nikken taka ka-
kari"; this is the fifth method of
opening the attack.
3. H 17.
5. B 16.
7. B 14.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
141
cause it will make " Kake tsugu" no matter which way
White tries to break through. If he should play at D 17,
White could get through at E 16.
1. N 16.
3. N 17.
5. O 15.
7. M 18.
9. M 15.
White
XXII
Handicap
11. N 15. White must connect.
Black has the better of it.
Black
2. O 17. This is an alternative
defense.
4. O 16.
6. N 18. This is Black's best
move. If he plays at P 15, White
replies at O 18 with a good attack.
8. O 18.
10. N 14. This stone will be
sacrificed, but'while White is killing
it Black gets advantage elsewhere.
12. Q14.
1. G4.
3. D3.
E4.
D2.
F4-
White
XXIII
Handicap
Black
11. C2.
2. D 7. This is another defen-
sive move.
4. E 3. This is better than C 3;
in that case Black gets the worst of it.
6. C3.
8. E5.
10. C 4. C 2 is not so good.
12. B2.
H2
THE GAME OF GO
White
13. E 2. White must look out
for his three stones. B I would be
a bad move.
Black
14. Cio.
The corner is divided, but Black has better prospects.
XXIV
Handicap
White
F3-
C9.
5. C 5. The point of this varia-
tion is to show that White can strike
in on this move and yet live.
7. C6.
9. B7.
11. B6.
13. D6.
15. E 7. White threatens from
the outside.
17. B9.
19. A 8. 'Watari."
Black
2. C7.
4. D 3. Black's three stones are
now called "Ogeima shimari";
they are supposed to be a strong
formation protecting the corner.
6. D5.
8. D7.
10. B8.
12. C8.
14. E6.
16. C4.
18. E 8. Black cannot venture
A 8, as his four stones would then
die.
20. F7. Takes.
White has entered the corner and still his stones will
live.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS 143
XXV
Handicap
Plate 21 (D)
White Black
1. C6. 2. G3.
3. J 3. 4. C4-
5. E 6. Instead of entering the 6. G 5. Black tries to get out
corner, White attacks from both toward the center; this move also
sides. prevents White from playing at E 3.
7. J 5. 8. G7.
9. F 8. 10. H 2.
Black has a good game.
We now come to the "Joseki" where no handicaps are
given. In such cases, of course, Black has the first move.
The first stone is generally played on an intersection adja-
cent to the point on which the handicap stone is placed when
given. There are, therefore, eight intersections on which
the first stone might be played. In the lower left-hand
corner, for instance, these would be C 3, C 4, C 5, D 3, D 5,
E 3, E 4, E 5. By common consent C3 has been rejected
as disadvantageous for the first player, because the territory
obtained thereby is too small. E 5 has been rejected because
it allows the adversary to play behind it and take the corner.
D 4, or the handicap point, is also not used. The other
six points may be divided into duplicate sets of three each,
and, therefore, there are only three well-recognized methods
of playing the first stone. These are: in the lower left-hand
corner, C 4 or D 3, the most usual and conservative, which
is called "Komoku," or the "little 'Me'"; E4 or D5 which is
i44
THE GAME OF GO
bolder, called "Takamoku," or the "high 'Me'"; and E 3
or C 5 which is not so much used as either of the others,
called "Moku hadzushi," or the "detached 'Me.'" We shall
give about an equal number of examples of each of these
methods of opening the game, commencing, as is customary
in the Japanese works, with "Takamoku."
I
No Handicap
Plate 22 (D)
Black
White
1. D 5. "Takamoku." This is 2. D 3. This is White's best
the most aggressive of the three answer. E 3 is also good. C 3 is
methods of opening. bad.
3. C 3. Black plays to get terri- 4. C 2. Best; if he attempts to
tory on the left; he attacks from cut off at C 4 he gets a bad game,
inside.
5. C 4. Black extends.
7. C 9. Black takes territory on
left side.
6. E 2. Necessary to secure the
connection at D 2.
8. G 4. White takes space to
the right.
Even game.
II
No Handicap
Black
White
1. Q.15.
3. P17.
outside.
6. P16.
"Takamoku."
Black attacks from the
2. Q.17.
4. P18.
6. O 17. White plays to get ter-
ritory on one side or the other; he
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
H5
Black
White
will sacrifice one of his stones on
line 17.
7. O 18. This stone is intended 8. N 18. White plays to secure
as a sacrifice to aid Black in getting the left-hand side,
the corner. It is better than Q18.
9. Q.18.
corner.
11. R 17.
Black now secures the 10. O 19. Takes.
13. P 14. This is also important
12. O 16. An important stone;
it is played to secure White territory
on the left, also to aid in an attack
on the right-hand side.
14. K 16. White returns to his
as it extends Black's territory; he original plan and secures territory
cannot neglect it. to the left.
Even game.
Suppose Black neglects P 14 on his thirteenth move, we
would then have the following continuation:
Black
13. "Tenuki."
15. Q14.
17. R13.
19. Q12.
21. R 11.
23. S 11.
25. R 14.
27. P 12.
29. R 10.
31. R 9.
White
14.
P14.
16.
Q.I3-
18.
R 12.
20.
Pi3-
22.
S 12.
24.
S13.
26.
Q.11.
28.
S 10.
30.
Q.10.
White has the better of it.
146
THE GAME OF GO
III
No Handicap
Plate 22 {A)
Black
I. P 16. "Takamoku."
3. Q_I4- The purpose of this
move is to confine White to the
corner.
5. O 17. Black prevents this.
7. O 16.
9. R 13. Black stops him.
II. Q.16. If Black wishes
"Tenuki," this is good, otherwise
S 13 would be better.
13. E 17. "Tenuki," but, never-
theless, played with reference to the
stones on line O.
White
2.
R16.
4.
Pl7.
White
tries
to g«
;t out
on th
e left.
6.
Q.17.
8.
R 14.
White
tries
the
other
side.
10.
S 14.
12.
R17.
Even game. White has the corner, but Black has better
possibilities.
IV
No Handicap
Black
1.
E16.
"Takamoku."
2.
C16.
3.
D14.
4.
E17.
5.
D16.
Black threatens
to
6.
D17.
break into the corner.
7. C 17 Black repeats his threat;
in reality it is a sacrificed stone.
8. B 17.
White
JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
H7
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
— (1
,
J
V
fc^AYi.
K/ITY^
D^
y*3
1 ^ A/1
J^fj*^1
tk
|7*
jj/f^
/^
■
A
k/QVf
^r
fv-
U
A
jjvr
\
%/
sv__,
r
\
x
;
D
K
h
JJ
g
Cs
^)
I ^
— (A^—
n
^
l^
s~t
VJ
d
»^
— MlY-
\L
ty
VI
V-
VO/
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 22
i48
THE GAME OF GO
White
10. B 1 8. White must play here
to save his stones.
12. B 1 6.
14. D 18.
16. C 19. Takes two.
Black
9. C 18. This stone may be lost,
but it aids Black in attacking from
the outside.
11. C15.
13. F 17.
15. E 18.
17. G 16.
This is an old "Joseki" which used to be popular; it
fell into disuse and was revived by Murase Shuho. It is
good enough for White if he has an outlying stone or two
in the neighborhood, otherwise it is bad play for White.
V
No Handicap
The following stones are supposed to be on the board:
Black, Q 13, R 13, R 15; White, Q 14, P 16, Q 17.
Black
White
1. Q5. Black plays "Taka- 2. R 3. White plans to prevent
moku," thinking to connect with Black's connection and reduce the
stones on line 13.
3. P 3. Thts is an error; if Black
wishes to frustrate White's plan, R 4
is the correct play.
5. P4.
7. R6.
9. R7.
11. R8.
13. R9.
15. Q.6.
Black territory.
4. Q.4.
6. R5.
8. S6.
10. S7.
12. S 8. White has now made a
formidable attack on the Black ter-
ritory.
14. P 5. If Black gets this point,
his line would be too strong.
16. Q2. Important; not merely
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS 149
Black White
to attack Black on line P, but it
prevents Black from coming to R 2,
which would mean io "Me"; it
also prepares for O 2.
White has the better of it.
Variation commencing at White's sixteenth move:
Black White
16. O 5. Not so good as No. 16,
Q.2.
17. R 2. 18. S 2.
19. Q_z. 20. S 4. White secures the neces-
sary two "Me."
21. M3.
Black now has secured territory at the bottom of the
board and confined White to the corner with the better
game.
VI
No Handicap
Plate 22 (B)
Black White
1. Q.5. 2. Q.3.
3. O4. 4. R5.
5. R 6. 6. R 4.
7. S6. 8. O2.
9. "Tenuki" at Q.15.
White has the corner; Black can afford "Tenuki" at
move nine because if White cuts at Q 6 Black can still get a
good game. In fact Q 15 indirectly defends the connec-
tion at Q 6.
I5°
THE GAME OF GO
VII
No Handicap
Plate 22 (C)
Black
1. D 15. 2. D 17.
3. G 16. Old "Joseki," origi- 4. C 15.
nated by KonnoGenkoin the Middle
Ages.
6. D 16.
8. C18.
10. D 18.
12. C14.
14. C13.
16. B 19.
18. B13.
20. G 18.
5.
Ci
6.
7.
Cl
7-
9.
Bi
8.
11.
B
15-
13.
B
14-
15.
E
15-
17.
B
17-
19.
A
16.
"Me.
"
21.
H
18.
23.
H
17-
25.
F
15-
27.
G
15-
This gives Black two
22.
24.
26.
28.
G17.
F16.
E16.
F18.
defense.
29. C 10.
Black has the better of it.
White
Important move for
VIII
No Handicap
Plate 23 (A)
Black
1. P 17. "Moku hadzushi"; not
so much used as the other two open-
White
2. Q15. This is called "Taka-
moku kakari"; it is one of the two
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
!5i
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19 i — i — i — i — i — i i i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
1
J
%
4*
>
1
w
, tf
e
^
|/n/c
[\_
$
¥
(\
L ™
P\|
A
m
7?
[P
A:
r
C
ft
i>-
*J
n
^
rv
t
h
u
U
i
(t
C\J
VJ
IS
—d
(^
pi
d
LX5
h
tj%
\\
Vy
J\X
^
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 23
!52
THE GAME OF GO
Black
White
ings. It is more conservative than general methods of replying to
"Takamoku." "Moku hadzushi."
3. R 16. Black plays to secure 4. R 15.
the corner.
5. S 16. The corner is now safe. 6. Rn. S 15 would be good
also.
Even game.
IX
No Handicap
Black
1. R 15. "Moku hadzushi."
3. P 15. Black plays to confine
White.
5. P 14. Necessary to prevent
White breaking in.
7. R 16.
9. R 10.
11. S 17.
13. R 18.
15. S 16.
White
2. P 16.
4. O 15.
6. Q16. White plays to get the
corner.
8. N 16. Very important; if
neglected, Black gets the corner,
and also destroys White's adjacent
territory.
10. R 17.
12. S 18.
14. Q17.
16. K 17.
The corner is evenly divided, and neither side has an
advantage.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
l53
X
No Handicap
Black
White
1. PI7.
2. Q_I5- "Takamoku kakari."
3. P15.
4. P 16. This is an invention of
Murase Shuho.
5. O 16.
Black
cannot play
at
6. Q16.
Q_i6 without getting
a
very b
ad
position.
7. Q.17.
9. R 18.
8. R 17.
10. S 16.
11. S 18.
12. O 17.
13. N17.
14. O18.
15. P18.
16. N 18. This and the two pre-
17. M 17.
Black cannot neglect
18.
O15
this move.
19. N 16.
20.
P14.
21. K17.
Defensive; Black loses
22.
R 10,
the " Sente.'
ceding stones are sacrificed; Black
naturally expects White to cut at
O 15. The text move is a brilliant
invention of Murase Shuho.
Takes.
White has much the better game.
XI
No Handicap
Plate 23 (B)
Black
White
1. p3.
" Moku hadzushi." 2. Q 5-
"Takamoku kakari."
3. P5.
4. P4.
154
THE GAME OF GO
Black
White
5. Q_4. This is not a good move
6.
O4.
for Black and will result in his
getting a confined position.
7. R5.
8.
Q.6.
9. R4.
10.
OS-
11. P2.
12.
O2.
13. R 6.
14.
Q.7-
15. S 8. Black cannot play at
16.
E3.
R 8, as White would cut at R 7.
White has the better position.
XII
1. C15.
3. F17.
both sides.
No Handicap
Plate 23 (C)
Black
White
Black attacks from
2. D 17. "Komoku kakari."
This is the alternative method of
defense to this opening.
4. E 17. This is the crucial
move. White plays thus first to
get a strong position on line 17, also
to prepare for getting out at D 15.
Two connected stones always form
a strong base.
5. G 16.
6.
D15.
7. D 14.
8.
E15.
9. B 16. Black now invades the
10.
B17.
corner; he wishes to occupy C 17,
an important point.
11. C 17.
12.
C18.
13. C 16.
14.
B18.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
155
White
Black
15. E 18. 16. D 18.
17. G 14. 18. F 14.
19. D 13. Guarding the connec- 20. G 13.
tion at C 14.
21. H 14. 22. F 12.
Black has the better position. This is an old "Joseki."
It is not much liked at the present time.
XIII
No Handicap
Black
1. C15.
3. F 16. This is a variation;
the intention is to confine White to
the margin.
5. E 15. This is to prevent
White from coming to D 15.
7. H 16.
9. G 16.
Even game.
D17.
E17.
White
6. G 17.
8. H 18. This is a correct move.
H 17 would be inferior.
10. K17.
XIV
No Handicap
Plate 23 (D)
Black
1. c5.
2.
D3
3. F4.
4.
E3-
5. C3.
This is unusual;
E 5 is
6.
C2
ie customary move.
White
156
THE GAME OF GO
Black
7. C4-
9. Ba.
11. E5.
13. G5.
8. G3.
10. Gf
12. D2.
14. J 4.
Even game; the corner is divided.
White
XV
No Handicap
Plate 24 {A)
Black
1. R 16. This move, called
"Komoku" is the most frequently
used opening when there are no
handicaps; it is also the safest for
the weaker player.
3. N 17. This move is called
"Ikken basami"; this is the most
usual way of continuing: it gives
Black an attack at once.
5. S 17.
7. R 15. Black must extend;
R 18 would be bad.
9. Q.13.
White
P 17. White's best reply.
4. R 17. White plays to get the
corner.
6. Q_i6.
8. R 18. White must do the
same; he cannot play at S 18.
10. S 18. White cannot neglect
this move after Black plays at Q.13;
if Black had played at R 12, White
could have played elsewhere.
Black has the better position.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
157
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
C\
<Yl
s>
4
L
(\
I)
g\
<i
%
w
\
L<
V
X
(J
-®-
(\
M
f^
kj
vi
V
A
-<«
c
•\
O
1)
K
s
^
_4
\
X
9
+
fttf
r
> 4
A 1
fi\^'
(\i
D-
B
R
(c
y\d\£Tk
ft
^
h
b
u
u
r^
\
M
-Q
v%
d
\_
[£}
y ™
Dd
J}-
%
9
(j
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
2
1
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 24
i58
THE GAME OF GO
XVI
No Handicap
Black
White
1.
Q.I7.
"Komoku."
2. R15.
3.
R13.
"Ikken basami."
4. Q13. This time White does
not try for the corner, but attacks
the black stone at R 13.
5.
Q.I2.
6. Q.14.
7.
N17.
Black abandons
the
8. R 12.
stone at R 13 in order to get greater
territory; if he defends it at R 11,
White plays at N 17 with a better
game.
9. R 11. 10.
11. Q_u. S 11 would be bad. 12.
13. R 16. 14.
Black has the better position.
S 12.
S13.
S15.
XVII
No Handicap
Black
1. D3.
"Komoku."
3. C7.
5. D5.
Black connects
stones and
shuts White in.
7. E4.
9. D6.
11. E2.
13. E3.
White
2. C5.
4. H 3. White in turn attacks
the black stone at D 3; G3 would
be too near,
his 6. D4.
8. C4.
10. C3.
12. Da.
14. L 3. White can afford to
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS 159
Black White
play for a greater space, as his
stones in the corner will live even
if he loses the stone at D 2.
15. B6. 16. B5.
17. C2. 18. B2.
19. D 1. Takes. 20. B 1.
Even game.
XVIII
No Handicap
Plate 24 (B)
Black White
1. R 4. " Komoku."
2.
P3-
3. M 3. "Nikken basami." This
4.
0.5-
White plays to get out
is the second variation in this
towai
rd the center.
opening.
5. R 5.
6.
Q.6.
7. R 7.
8.
R6.
9. S6.
10.
S7.
"Sute ishi."
11. S8.
12.
0.7-
13. R 8. It would be bad play
14.
S5.
to take immediately.
15. T 7. Takes.
16.
Rs-
17. S4.
18.
S3-
This move is made to
secure "Me
" in the corner.
19. Q.4.
20.
P4-
The game is about even.
i6o
THE GAME OF GO
XIX
No Handicap
Black
White
1.
c4.
" Komoku."
2. E3.
3.
H3-
"Nikken basami."
4. D5.
at C 4.
White attacks the stone
5.
D4-
6. E4.
7.
E5.
This is a bad move
if
8. D6.
White replies correctly, otherwise
Black gets the better of it.
9. F5.
11. B6. Black defends
threatened position.
13. F7.
15. B2.
his
10. D 2. This is an important
move; it attacks the black stones
on line 4 and also prepares for
White to extend at G 4. C 2
would be bad, as Black would play
at F 4.
12. G4.
14. D 8. White must extend.
16. H4.
Black's third stone at H 3 is now called " Uke ishi," or
a " floating stone." White has the better position.
Black
XX
No Handicap
Plate 24 (C)
1. D 17. "Komoku."
3. C 12. "Nikken basami."
5. D 11.
White
2. C15.
4. D 12. White attacks the stone
at C 12 in this variation.
6. C13.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
161
Black
7. Cn.
9. E 16.
11. C 16. The old book move
was E 15, but this gave "Tenuki"
to White.
Even game.
White
8. G 17. White attacks the other
black stone.
10. F15.
12. E15.
XXI
No Handicap
Black White
I. C4. "Komoku." 2. E3.
3. J 3. "Sangen basami." This 4. R 4. White takes advantage
move attacks the white stone but not of his opportunity and plays in an-
so directly as the preceding varia- oth
tion. It is the invention of Honinbo
Dosaku.
5. Dj.
7. B6.
9. M 3. It will be seen in this
variation that the stones are played
farther apart than in the preceding
" Joseki."
II. H2.
13. D 8. This is an important
move for Black.
15. M5.
her
corner,
6.
E4-
8.
J 5-
10.
H3-
17. L 3. If Black defends at
M 4, White replies at K 2.
12. H4.
14. O3.
16. L 4. "Nozoku." It threat-
ens Black's connection on lines M
and 3.
18. G2.
162
THE GAME OF GO
Black
White
19. J 2. 20. L 5.
21. Mf 22. P5.
This "Joseki" really deals with two corners.
XXII
No Handicap
Plate
24 (D)
Black
White
1. D 3. " Komoku."
2. c5.
3. C 9. "Sangen basami."
4. c3.
5. C2.
6. D4.
7. E3.
8. B3.
9. E 4. Preparatory to 11 at C
10. D6.
A good move. E 5
;; generally No. 9 is played at H 3.
would be bad, because Black would
reply at D 6 with a better game.
11. C 15. (Not in diagram.)
We will now insert ten examples of openings, as dis-
tinguished from " Joseki." As already stated, these are by
Murase Shuho. In these examples Black is supposed to
make the best possible moves, and therefore White always
finds himself at a disadvantage.
I
Plate 25
Black has a handicap of four stones.
White Black
1. R 14.
3. Q.13.
2. Q_i4.
4. P 14.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
163
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1Y5
T\tf!
"Vyfeu-
IAai/tmpvs
f
P~
fa
d
fc
fi
r
-41
~M
lU
—
%
¥
vb
^•y wvv
9®<2>
M
>o 1
(\
p-
-{pc
rvi^—
2
lAl
-3
ft
-
(I
h
WVm
V
u
V
»^
d
^~
0
^
3
(*
^
9
6
ft-
-d
i\_
(a
(a
*%tf\
^
^
v)i/
~{^rj
J)*
is*
}\
WW
ti
to
3>
J)#©
$
S^v
m
7s!
/*
ryffYiftY/n^
\)
vi
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 25
9.
Pl3.
11.
Q.15.
13.
R13.
15.
N13.
164 THE GAME OF GO
White Black
5. R 15. 6. R 16.
7. O 3. 8. R 10. Formerly in such a
case as this Black played at R 7.
This move replied to White's move
at O 3 and at the same time from a
distance attacked White's stones at
R 14 and R 15. It is better to con-
fine the last two stones by the text
move.
10. R 12.
12. P 15.
14. P16.
16. P 10. This move is better
than R 7.
17. R 3. 18. R 4. This move is better
than Q_3, which although it cuts off
O 3 and R 3 would leave Black's
stone at R 10 weak.
19. Qj. 20. P4.
21. P3. 22. N5.
23. L 17. 24. G 17.
25. O 17. 26. N 16.
27. P 18. 28. Q18. Black is quite satis-
fied to have merely the necessary
two "Me" in this corner, because he
has a much larger territory to the
left.
29. J 17. 30. C 10.
31. Q6. 32. O4.
33. M4. This move is better 34. O 8.
than O 7 because Black could fol-
low at N 3 in that case. Q_6 is a
"Sute ishi" or sacrificed stone. It
has the effect of forcing Black to
play 34 O 8, and later on will help
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
165
White
still further to narrow down Black's
territory. At the same time every
attack on the Black position from
the outside would be made more
effective by the presence of this
stone. Possibly it could also be
used later in "Ko." Black makes
his 36th, 38th and 40th moves in
order to secure his position which
is weakened by the presence of the
white stone at Q6.
35. F3.
37. L4.
39. K5.
41- J 5-
43. G4.
45. F5.
47. G3.
49. R 18. Beginners would play
at S 16 or Q.17.
51. O 18.
Black
36.
M5.
38.
L5-
40.
K6.
42.
F4-
44.
E3-
46.
E4.
48.
D7.
50.
P17
52. Q_i9.
II
Plate 26
Black h
as
a handier
IP
of foil
r stones.
White
1. R 14.
2. Q14.
3. Q.13.
4. P 14.
5. R15.
6. R 16.
7. R 10.
8. K17.
9. O3.
10. G3.
11. H 17.
12. F 17.
13. M 17.
14. O17.
Black
1 66 THE GAME OF GO
White
15.
Oi8.
17.
K 18.
19.
Li7.
21.
Ki6.
23.
Ji6.
25.
M 18.
27.
o4.
29.
J 3-
31.
C6.
33.
C8.
35.
F7-
37.
Cl2.
39.
D8.
41.
E 12.
43.
F8.
45.
H7.
47.
C 14.
49.
M 15
51.
K7.
53.
L3-
Black
16.
P17.
18.
L18.
20.
J 18.
22.
J 17-
24.
H 18.
26.
IJ3-
28.
Q.6.
This move has the
same
effect as R 6.
30.
C 10.
32.
c4-
34.
E 10.
36.
G5.
38.
D7.
40.
Cn.
This move is very im-
portant because it prevents the
stone
at C]
[2 from making a con-
nection with that at C 8.
42.
F9.
44.
Hg.
46.
H 12.
48.
KlQ.
50.
J 5-
52.
K9.
54.
R8.
III
Plate 27
Black has a handicap of three stones.
White Black
1. R4. 2. P3.
3. L3. 4. G3.
5. Q_3. 6 P+.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
167
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
W
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
-
--
-®-
^
11 ©019 13
~©i
£/
4
>-
M
\\
W\jj
1
if
— w^-
1 f^
A
7)
p^
jj
1 ^^
r
-w-
v-
— 6
1/
-^
jj
11/
1\
c
>
^
7i
K
-<M
$~
-^
Tl—
6
h
4/
~^kh
/c
%
sJ
~yy~
fi
g
«k
\)
\
V
£
r
h^
1
P~
H
H
1
1
0
t>~
-\
1
¥
*,
w
|
%h
/5r5\
-®-
-®l
\-
U
1
9
ih
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 26
i68
THE GAME OF GO
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19 . — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
f
St/99v/5
\\&
t\*
1-
<
h
— ^g/^J^t^v
V^
$
g
►■
— // vii/^Fv
-4
*S-
'
%
tj/tJ
tymll
3\—
ir^
A
i
ij\4
r
U
r
-4
r
-i
h-
4
&-
0^
U
1 i
-d^ I
(t
p-
-i
h
<
K
~^
^4
r
Ml
$-
_j{
(\
ft
C:
D-
\\jf-
VI
if
tf
\
^
-i
M
y
\>
^
\
f
§
%
rC
>
rHz
/y1
^
i
{J
Tv
~Vs
V
t
fU
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 27
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
169
White
Black
7.
Q.6.
8.
good.
White
M 5. The following is also
B. L5, M3, M4
W. J3> M2, Q.8
: playing at Q8 in order to
prevent Black from playing at R 5.
9.
K4-
10.
K6.
11.
H4.
12.
G4-
13.
J 6.
14.
K7.
15.
G6.
16.
R 11. Black cannot play at
R 5 without seeing P 3 and 4 cut off.
17.
R9.
18.
Q.I4-
19.
C6.
20.
c4-
21.
C 14.
22.
Gl7.
23.
C17.
24.
CI6.
25.
D17.
26.
EI6.
27.
B16.
28.
Bl5.
29.
B17.
30.
Cl5.
31.
E17.
32.
Fl7.
33.
D14.
34.
Fl5.
35.
M 17.
36.
C8.
37.
E6.
38.
Du.
39.
B14.
The
ordir
lary
answer
40.
E8.
to this is A
14, but
: this
time Black
cannot play
in this
way
since White
wouk
1 follow at
B12
ar
id thus
threaten the
black stones
at C8
and D n.
41.
J 7-
42.
K8.
43.
H9.
44.
Gu.
45.
A 15.
Black cot
.Id
not oc-
46.
J 10.
cupy A 14 on his 42d and 44th
moves.
47. H3.
49. J 17.
48. O 17.
50. G 2. This move is necessary
170 THE GAME OF GO
White Black
for the security of the Black po-
sition, and at the same time Black
does not lose the "Sente" by this
move.
IV
Plate 28
Black has a handicap of three stones.
White Black
1. R 14.
2.
R5.
3. P4.
4.
Q.3-
5. P3.
6.
Q.2.
7. R 7. F
ormerly
in
this case
8.
R6.
White played
at
L3
and
Bl;
ack re-
plied at Q_6.
9. Q.7.
10.
P5-
11. O 17.
12.
Q.14.
13. Q.13.
14.
P14.
15. R 15.
16.
R 16.
17. P13.
18.
O16.
19. N 16.
20.
P17.
21. O 18.
22.
O13.
23. O 12.
24.
O14.
25. K 17.
26.
L3-
27. C 14.
At
this
move
White
28.
L5.
abandons P 3 and 4. If he replied
to Black L 3, then there would fol-
low:
B. L 3, L 4, L 5, L 6, G 4
W. M 4, M 5, M 6, M 7
and Black has a decisive advantage.
29. C8. 30. C6.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
171
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19 1 1 1 — 1 — 1 1 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 1 — 1 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 1 — 1 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
£
D"
H|
ft
ii
t\—
4
>-
-1
^
*
#
_/f<
\t
-4
-1
ft '
L?
0
5>-
-4
ft
W
V
5VJ7VT
^1—
•7^
Ti—
lyvi.
is
0/
3/
-4
ft
tf
tfW
r
r
(?
rvi
r^
-4
ft
ft
if
(A
-4
«*
0
5
*
fih/#
T\fi
f-
—6
fr-
-^
D-
10
-3
H
/i
<
\g\4\j\2_
~®#<j
V
^
Vj
t?
\*J
\ 1
3 (
: 1
) I
l I
: (
) F
i «
J 1
{ I
- N
4 r
si (
} 1
> c
) F
l !
> T
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Plate 28
172
THE GAME OF GO
White
31.
E14.
33.
B 14.
35.
E2.
37.
D3-
39.
E3-
41.
J3-
43.
G3-
45. J5-
47. 0 8.
49. O 11.
Black
32. C15.
34. F 16.
36. Da.
38. C3.
40. C2.
42. E4.
44. K 2. The importance of this
move, when a territory merely has
the protection of L 3-L 5, has been
commented on before.
46. P6.
48. N 12.
50. H 17.
V
Plate 29
Black has a handicap of two stones.
White
1.
R4-
3.
D17.
5.
C15.
7.
C16.
9.
C8.
F 17 is i
Then
would
follow:
B. G17
W. F 18
11.
D18.
13.
L3-
15.
R7.
17.
L5.
19.
L7.
21.
S3-
just
good.
2.
4.
6.
8.
10
D15.
F16.
C 14.
Dl4.
EI8.
12.
P3-
14.
P6.
16.
J3-
18.
J5-
20.
R3-
22.
0.4-
Black
This move and 24-
R 2 are necessary because of the
white stones on line L.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
173
ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPQRST
19 1 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — I — I — I — I — I — 1 — 1 — 1 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
_/T
T\
-
1/
-$
W_
(K
\
r
fi
J-
Y
—it-
htf
>v
^
?
"%
^m
— \<
IIM
jj
Wl/
-4
v
u
7)
V
V
(7
$y-
*i^\ z^\ ^
y\
4
rv_
^4
w~
(a
D-
V
0
1-
(\
fft
15
-4
\-
V:
(k
J)
S
ilV-
Sf
--<JSXS>-
i
fc
^4
>»
[)
— /A^
1
¥
m
*-
rc
fi
■^
m/
^
™
2/
ft 1
3;
Hr- ^
jr*|/
>*«/
<l
0
^
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 29
174
THE GAME OF GO
White
Black
23.
R5.
24.
R2.
25.
O17.
26.
C6.
27.
Dn.
28.
F 12.
This move is very
good,
otherv
/ise White plavs at E 16
and b
reaks
into the Black position.
29.
F9.
30.
Q.14.
31.
K16.
32.
R9.
33.
S 2. If Black plays
at R 9,
34.
P9.
this move is necessary for
the se-
curity
of the white group.
35.
C12.
36.
E17.
37.
D16.
38.
F 14.
39.
G15.
40.
F15.
41.
H17.
42.
J 7-
43.
O4.
44.
0.5-
45.
R8.
46.
M6.
47.
L6.
48.
0.9-
49.
F3-
50.
E3-
51.
G 2. This is a fine
: move.
52.
K2.
By means of it Black is compelled
to play at K 2 and White can occupy
F 5 on his 53d move and thus escape,
whereas without G 2 White could
only have played at F 4, whereupon
Black could have cut off" the retreat
atF6.
VI
Plate 30
Black has a handicap of two stones.
White
Black
1- 0.3-
3. C 15.
5- J 17-
2. D17.
4. C13.
6. D 15.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
75
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 30
i76 THE GAME OF GO
White Black
7.
Di6.
8.
E 16.
9.
Ci6.
10.
D 14.
11.
C17.
12.
E18.
13.
C18.
14.
L 17. Black could prevent
White's next move of E 15 by play-
ing 14
-G 15.
15.
E15.
16.
F16.
17.
E13.
18.
E14.
19.
F 15. "Shicho" is impos-
20.
H 16. This move makes the
sible 1
because White already occupies
Black
position secure.
Q.3-
21.
F14.
22.
Cn.
23.
L16.
24.
M 17.
25.
J 16.
26.
H15.
27.
G13.
28.
J H.
29.
M 16.
30.
N16.
31.
N15.
32.
O16.
33.
L 14.
34.
J 12.
35.
Gn.
36.
D9.
37.
H 10.
38.
Jio.
39.
J 9-
40.
K 10.
41.
G8.
42.
D6.
43.
K9.
44.
L 10.
45.
M8.
46.
Nio.
47.
J 15.
48.
H 14.
49.
N13.
50.
J 3. White could not occupy
this p
oint without endangering the
upper
position.
51.
L3-
52.
J 5-
53.
P8.
54.
Pio.
55.
Q.I3-
56.
L 5. Black does not need
to further defend his position E 17-
Pio,
because it surely has two
"Me.:
"
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
*77
VII
No Handicap
Plate 31
Black
White
1.
c4.
2.
0.3-
3.
D17.
4.
E3-
5.
D5.
6.
R16.
7.
R5.
8.
O17.
9.
F4.
10.
G3-
11.
O4.
12.
might
O 3. From here the game
continue as follows:
B. W.
N3 P4
O2 P3
N4 Q,6
R
■7 K3
but th
is is bad for Black.
13.
P4-
14.
P3-
15.
N4.
M3
would
be
just
as
16.
R4-
good.
17.
N3.
18.
S5.
19.
J 3-
20.
Cll. White abandons the
stones at E 3 and G 3. If he were to
play at G 4, Black would reply at
C 1 1 with too great an advantage.
21.
C14.
22.
C8.
23.
D3-
24.
J i7-
25.
G17.
26.
Ji5.
27.
J 5-
Now
the
twc
1 white
28.
Q.12.
stones
; are cut off.
29.
L15.
Blac
:k cannot
venture
30.
L17.
any farther 1
in.
31.
P16.
32.
P17.
33.
Q.16.
34.
Q.17.
i78
THE GAME OF GO
ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPORST
19 i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 1 — i 1 — i — r—\ — i i— . 19
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
1
J*
_f
h
-®-
—fi
(S>-
^_/fiV5ry^
*
K
v©A
W^^J
£
5>-
r
-C
h
■4
f|_
i)
s
V
/
*-
'tV^tf
V.
s/v
DC
1x2
ih—
—
-4
nv—
flr^
y>
~1
f)-
V
_^
£
h
-whni
i>
£
\
fi
IP
^ ,
TT^
£
"\\(a\—
-d
ih—
Tk
"^
!?/
J/\n
ij \
l)
1
■rvl
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
Plate 31
35.
Ri5.
37.
Pl3.
39.
Ni3.
41.
O14.
43.
L13.
45. D7.
1.
c4.
3.
0.3-
5.
Rg.
7.
N3.
9.
P9.
11.
R4-
13.
P4-
15.
M4.
17.
O17.
19.
C 10.
21.
D5.
23.
R 17.
25.
R 16.
27.
Q.18.
29.
R 18.
31.
R 14.
33.
R13.
35.
S12.
37.
C13.
39.
Q.12.
41.
S15.
43.
S 14.
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS 179
Black White
36.
S16.
38.
P12.
40.
O13.
42.
Ol2.
44. R6.
VIII
No Handicap
Plate 32
Black White
2.
C16.
4.
R5.
6.
O5.
8.
R 12.
10.
Q.16.
12.
0.5-
14.
P5-
16.
M7.
18.
E 16.
20.
E3-
22.
K17.
24.
Q.17.
26.
Q.15.
28.
P18.
30.
P17.
32.
Q.14.
34.
Q.I3-
36.
K15.
38.
E 13.
40.
R15.
42.
S 16.
44.
P12.
i8o
THE GAME OF GO
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
fh
_^7
/*
[Y-,
~4
jft
~ QhJ~
D^
ft
U^
-€
D-
1
X
—(A
^-
5>
^4
~fo£
Svi*^
yVt
fc/VC
-4
ft
V
£
h
I
\
~t
(t
ft
vl
fy
£
n
-Q
Dd
2X5
d
\
II
f
F
(7
ft
1
^
f
¥
~i
J~
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
ABC DEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 32
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS 181
Black White
45. R II. Takes. 46. M 5. This move is necessary
because Black's position above it
has become strong.
47. O 13. The continuation
would now be either 48 P 13, 49
O 15, or 48 O 15, 49 P J3-
IX
No Handicap
Plate 33
Black White
1.
c4-
2.
0.3-
3.
D 17.
4.
E3-
5.
R 16.
6.
C15.
7.
D5.
8.
P17.
9.
F4.
10.
at G
C 11. White cannot play 10
3 because Black would then
occupy C 11.
11.
F3-
12.
K3-
13.
R5.
14.
O4.
15.
F16.
16.
H17.
17.
C13.
18.
at C
C 8. Abandoning the stone
r5-
19.
C16.
20.
R13.
21.
Q.15.
22.
N16.
23.
Q.17.
24.
P18.
25.
R9.
If 25 were
played
26.
P14.
at Q_8, 26
R 8 would
be the
result
27.
O16.
28.
O15.
29.
P16.
30.
N17.
31.
Q.18.
32.
R7.
l82
THE GAME OF GO
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
1
>
<B>-
(h
^
__/l
JST
P
fl
^
-Q
»^
U
5/
^>-
6)f*
\ r?
ir~
c
A
^
X
V
^i
4^
r^
(7
$~
Vir
^
J
^
-d
ft
V
__£,
ft
ilY—
-%y~r
kl
5/
/
m
H
fo
-mt
IT)
X
V
y^
^ i
A
&-
-0-K3
^
ft
i\j
1]
n
(t
^
v»
5^
A
D-
\
_y^\^i_
LP
vi
y
^
^£
i^
*
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 33
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
■83
Black
White
33.
S 7. This move
insures
a
34.
E4.
This move rescues No.
connection between
the
stones
at
4-
R 5 and R 9.
35.
E2.
36.
D2.
37.
G2.
38.
E5.
39.
D3-
40.
D6.
41.
C3-
42.
H15.
43.
0.7-
44.
from
N13.
cutting
This prevents Black
at N 15 and Q.13.
45.
F 14.
46.
C6.
47.
G13.
X
No Handicap
Plate 34
Black
1.
c4.
2.
0.3-
3.
D 17.
4.
E3-
5.
R 16.
6.
C15.
7.
D5.
8.
F 16.
9.
D15.
10.
D16.
11.
E16.
12.
C16.
13.
E17.
14.
E15.
15.
D14.
16.
C17.
17.
F17.
18.
G16.
19.
H 18.
This move is much
20.
C 14.
bettei
: than
G17.
21.
E 14.
22.
F15.
23.
F14.
24.
H 16.
25.
J*7-
26.
G18.
27.
F 18.
28.
G14.
29.
E 12.
30.
Cn.
White
i84
THE GAME OF GO
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
1
fi ?
r\/l
T|
— <lfrjl
trVy^^.
-4
a
£
■4
Wjh
sj
^
V
I
Ih
\
(\i
)C
h/7^-
_/0\_
Vt
WfJ
g/v^
v?
7W
fA
&-
Lj
■A
V
-4
^
T
hs
m
V.
a
ft
r
^
^
f\
^
-llh
tf
•\
\
, (A
»
V.
B/^
(4
*-
a)
1
a
(1
D-
—
_*
ti
1
*
9 A
ft
d
^
M
r\_
^
fj
i
^
U
y~
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 34
"JOSEKI" AND OPENINGS
185
Black
31. G13.
33. G 12. H 14 would be bad.
35. M 17.
37. G 10.
39. R 10.
41. P16.
43. P 10.
45. R 12.
47. Q,i7.
49. H9.
White
32. H 13.
34 J 14.
36. J 11
38. Q.5.
40. R8.
42. J 3-
44. P 12.
46. R 17. A sacrifice.
48. D8.
50. N 12.
VII
THE END GAME
A work on the game of Go would not be complete with-
out a chapter especially devoted to the subject of the end
game.
On the average a game of Go consists of about two
hundred and fifty moves, and we might say that about
twenty of these moves belong to the opening, about one
hundred and fifty to the main part of the game, and the
remaining eighty to the end game. The moves which may
be regarded as belonging to the end game are those which
connect the various groups of stones with the margin, and
which fill up the space between the opposing groups of stones.
Of course, there is no sharp distinction between the main
game and the end game. Long before the main game is
finished moves occur which bear the characteristics of end
game play, and as the game progresses moves of this kind
become more and more frequent, until at last all of the
moves are strictly part of the end game.
Toward the end of the game it becomes possible to
calculate the value of a move with greater accuracy than
in the middle of the game, and in many cases the number
of points which may be gained by a certain move may be
ascertained with absolute accuracy. Therefore, when the
main game is nearing completion, the players survey the
board in order to locate the most advantageous end plays;
that is to say, positions where they can gain the greatest
THE END GAME 187
number of "Me." In calculating the value of an end
position, a player must carefully consider whether on its
completion he will retain or lose the "Sente." It is an
advantage to retain the "Sente," and it is generally good play
to choose an end position where the "Sente" is retained, in
preference to an end position where it is lost, even if the
latter would gain a few more "Me."
The player holding the "Sente" would, therefore, com-
plete in rotation those end positions which allowed him to
retain it, commencing, of course, with those involving the
greatest number of "Me." He would at last come to a
point, however, where it would be more advantageous to
play some end position which gained for him quite a number
of points, although on its completion the "Sente" would
be lost. His adversary, thereupon gaining the "Sente,"
would, in turn, play his series of end positions until it became
advantageous for him to relinquish it. By this process the
value of the contested end positions would become smaller
and smaller, until at last there would remain only the filling
of isolated, vacant intersections between the opposing lines,
the occupation of which results in no advantage for either
player. These moves are called "Dame," as we have
already seen.
This is the general scheme of an end game, but, of
course, in actual play there would be many departures there-
from. Sometimes an advantage can be gained by making
an unsound though dangerous move, in the hope that the
adversary may make some error in replying thereto. Then
again, in playing against a player who lacks initiative, it
is not so necessary to consider the certainty of retaining the
"Sente" as when opposed by a more aggressive adversary.
188 THE GAME OF GO
Frequently also the players differ in their estimate of the
value of the various end positions, and do not, therefore,
respond to each other's attacks. In this way the possession
of the "Sente" generally changes more frequently during
the end game than is logically necessary.
The process of connecting the various groups with the
edge of the board gives rise to end positions in which there
is more or less similarity in all games, and most of the illus-
trations which are now given are examples of this class.
The end positions which occur in the middle of the board
may vary so much in every game that it is practically im-
possible to give typical illustrations of them.
Of course, in an introductory work of this character it
is not practicable to give a great many examples of end
positions, and I have prepared only twelve, which are se-
lected from the work of Inouye Hoshin, and which are
annotated so that the reasons for the moves may be under-
stood by beginners. The number of "Me" gained in each
case is stated, and also whether the "Sente" is lost or re-
tained. To these twelve examples I have added eight
positions from Korschelt's work.
I
Plate 35 (A)
The following stones are on the board: White, S 15,
R 14, P 14, L 17; Black, R 16, Q 16, N 15, N 17.
If White has the "Sente," he gains eight "Me," counting
together what he wins and Black loses.
White Black
1. S 17. This is White's only 2. S 16. If Black had had the
good move; S 16 does not take ad- move or "Sente," he could have
THE END GAME
189
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
» ^t ft :£zt!:?£3
15 \J IP 1 \J
a T C ^ T T
10
10
1 4
1 f
1 1
in M 11 n
9 _Q_
ft/^r^rS 1
7fr»rS M ii A
'^W D IP U
r 1 T T • I n 0
4 (TirlS V 1 ii
A 1 2 O () %
? 1 ^nl 1 rnS a
TV VTXT
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRS'
Plate 35
I
190 THE GAME OF GO
White Black
vantage of the opportunity, and he avoided White's invasion by play-
cannot risk S 18. ing here.
3. T 16. An instance of "Wa- 4. R 17.
tari."
5. S 18. White cannot venture 6. R 18. If Black neglects this,
to play at R 18. White would jump to Q_ 18.
White retains the "Sente."
II
Plate 35 (B)
The following stones are on the board : White, R 9, O 5,
03;Black,P7,Q3,Q4,R7.
If White has the first move, it makes a difference of
six "Me."
White Black
1. P2. 2. Q_2.
3. Q_i. 4. R 1.
5. P 1. 6. S 2. Black cannot neglect
this move.
White retains the "Sente."
If Black had had the first move, the play would have
been as follows:
Black White
1. P2. 2. O2.
3. Oi. 4. Ni.
5. Pi. 6. M 2.
And Black has the "Sente."
THE END GAME 191
III
Plate 35 (C)
The following stones are on the board: White, B 16, C 14,
E 15; Black, C 17, D 16, E 16, G 17.
If White has the move, it makes a difference of seven
41 Me."
White Black
1. B 17. White dare not go to 2. B 18.
B 18 because he would be cut off
eventually at B 15.
3. A 18. 4. C 18.
White retains the "Sente."
IV
• Plate 35 (D)
The following stones are on the board: White, B 8,
C 7, C 8, D 6, E 2, E 6, F 3, F 5; Black, B 6, B 7, C 6, D 2,
3> 4> 5-
If White has the move, it makes a difference of four
"Me."
White Black
1. B 4. This stone is sacrificed, 2. B 3. Black's best move be-
but there is no loss because it is cause it defends the connection at
so threatening that Black must play C 5, and also prevents White from
twice in order to make his position trying to connect at D I.
secure, meanwhile White advances
on line A.
3. A 7. White gains one "Me" 4. A 6.
by this move.
192
THE GAME OF GO
White
5. A 8.
Black
6. C 4. Necessary because the
connection at C 5 is now in immedi-
ate danger, but Black thereby fills
up another of his "Me," and White
retains the "Sente."
V
Plate 36 (A)
The following stones are on the board: White, M 16,
M 17, M 18, N 16, O 15, P 14, R 14; Black, N 17, N 18,
O 16, P16, Q16, R 16. "
If White has the "Sente," it makes a difference of six
"Me."
White
1. N 19.
3. O 19. White pushes his in-
vasion farther.
5. M 19.
White retains the "Sente."
Black
2. O 18. Black cannot stop the
invasion at O 19, as White would
then play at O 18 and kill the black
stones on line N.
4. P 19. Black can now arrest
the advance.
6. P18.
VI
Plate 36 (B)
The following stones are on the board: Black, M 2,
M 3, N 3, N 4, O 4, Q 4, R 4, S 4; White, L 3, N 2, O 2,
O3, P3, R2, S3, R6.
THE END GAME
193
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
/ e
>x™
...
£
i
r T^V
w
%
p
IQ
h
c
A
D
F
£
\4-
1
f
ik**
^r
s
-G
f>
y^.
y^
JL
J
|AA1/W»L
P
— (i
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 36
194
THE GAME OF GO
Black has the "Sente" and gains nine "Me.
Black
1. T3.
3. S2.
invasion.
Black proceeds with his
Black retains the "Sente.
White
2. Q^2. The obvious answer is
at T 2, but if White plays there,
Black replies at Q_2 and White
loses all his stones unless he can
win by "Ko." He plays at Q_2 in
order to form the necessary two
"Me."
4. Pi. If White tries to save
his stone by playing at R 3, Black
replies at Pi, and the white group
is dead.
VII
Plate 36 (C)
The following stones are on the board: Black, B 17,
C 17, D 16, G 17; White, B 16, C 13.
Black
1. B 14. This move is really
"Go te"; that is to say, White is not
forced to reply to it, but it is very
advantageous for Black, as it effec-
tively separates White's two stones.
3. B 15. The white stone at
B 16 is now hopeless.
White
2. C 14. C 15 is not so good.
Black has given up the "Sente," but has gained con-
siderable ground.
THE END GAME
!95
VIII
Plate 36 (D)
The following stones are on the board: Black, C 4,
D 4, E 4, C 7; White, C 3, D 3, E 3, F 3.
Black has the move.
Black White
1. B3. 2. B2.
3. B4.
These moves seem obvious, but the importance of Black's
opportunity is likely to be underestimated; Black gains
about eleven "Me" by this play. If the opposing lines
extend one space nearer the edge of the board, the territory
gained by a similar attack is not nearly so great.
IX
Plate 37 (A)
The following stones are on the board: White, M 16,
N 16, N 18, O 17, P 18, Q 17, 18; Black, N 15, O 15, 16,
P 16, 17, Q 16, R 12, R 17.
White has the move.
White Black
1. S 17. 2. S 16.
3. R 18. 4. R 16.
5. T 18.
White has given up the "Sente," but these moves make
a difference in his favor of about fourteen "Me."
196 THE GAME OF GO
X
Plate 37 (B)
The following stones are on the board : White, M 3,
O 3, P 2, Q 3, R 2; Black, N 4, O 4, Q 5, R 3> R 4-
White has the move.
White Black
1. S 2.
This move is really "Go te," but if Black neglects to
answer it, White can then jump to T 5. This jump is
called by a special name "O zaru," or the "big monkey,"
and would gain about eight "Me" for White.
XI
Plate 37 (C)
The following stones are on the board: White, C 15,
D 15, E 15, 16; Black, C 16, D 16, E 17, 18, F 16, G 17.
White has the move.
White Black
1. B16. 2. B 17.
3. B 15.
White has given up the "Sente" and has gained some-
what, but if Black now neglects to defend and plays else-
where, White can jump to B 18, and gain about seventeen
"Me" altogether.
XII
Plate 37 (D)
The following stones are on the board: White, B 8,
C 7, 1 1, D 5, 6, 7, E 6; Black, B 7, C 5, 6, D 3, 4, E 4, 5.
THE END GAME
197
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
"^
r>
-a
-fT^A
ywwv
lYvV
)A
C
A
1
i-
s
1
~X
J
Vifl
D
JJWVA
B
viy^FVyv.
j
>
-4
M
1
r
■x
AS
L
^
rL
P
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
Plate 37
198 THE GAME OF GO
White has the move.
White
Black
1. B6.
2. B5.
3. A 7.
Takes.
White has given up the "Sente," but this method of play
gains about fourteen "Me," as it is now no longer neces-
sary to protect the connection at C 8.
We will now insert two plates from Korschelt's book.
The notes at the foot of the illustrations are his.
THE END GAME
199
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
151
14
13 (
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
AA#^-
A
- v> shwt
fp
^J 11 wV
— L_
ft/iYvJ
hSh>-c
^ nt
0 - d^ tffe ^"^ r^i ^fe
t -Fi
. Mzj^rr
lOyW |
\\
,,
-/HV4
^-Q1
—fyWI
-OQ- D
y'VOy'm
'r\ T ^^/^S^^ T
vO; 1 www 1
" ™ WW
tr ClP
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPORST
A WORTH SIX "ME" (S 17, 18, 19 T 17, 18, 19); SENTE IS RE-
TAINED
B WORTH FIVE "ME" ; SENTE IS RETAINED
C WORTH THIRTEEN "ME" ; SENTE IS RETAINED
D WORTH EIGHT "ME"; SENTE IS RETAINED
Plate 38
200
THE GAME OF GO
A E
\ c
; r
) I
: f
■ G Y
1 c
J J
< 1
- m r
vl O P Q R S T
18
1 lm
\i
T
w
1 ' Wm^w\t
r
\
r
Ji
1 z(fc\
h
^
I
J
l
i'
r
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
-A
J
D
c
~^
\)
c
r
s
4
PI
<
V
J
A
^
1
l
y
i
1
r
\
V
K
J
Yr
-v
C
B
I
6
5
4
«<
|
<
1 C
r?
P
V~
i
<
>
H
^r
h
_J
o
2
1
Ir
2
Vi
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
A WORTH 29 "ME: SENTE IS LOST
B WORTH ABOUT 8 "MEl SENTE RETAINED
C WORTH 12 "ME:" SENTE IS RETAINED
D WORTH 18 "ME: SENTE IS LOST
Plate 39
VIII
PROBLEMS
After the student has become familiar with the rules
and the methods of play, and perhaps has played a few
games either with another beginner or with a Japanese
master, the impression left on the mind is likely to be that
the game is too vague, and that there is too wide a latitude
of choice of positions where stones may be placed. This
impression might be corrected by the study of illustrative
games, or of " Joseki" and end positions, but such a course
is rather dry and uninteresting, and, in the opinion of the
author, by far the best way of attaining a correct idea of
the game is by means of problems.
Many of us are familiar with Chess problems, and I
think Chess players will agree that they benefit the student
of Chess very little, because the assumed positions are not
such as arise frequently in actual play. The opposite is
the case in regard to Go problems. These are for the most
part taken from actual games, and the typical problem is a
situation that is quite likely to arise in actual play, and some
of them are positions that occur again and again.
If the student of the game will set up these positions
from the text and attempt to solve them, preferably with
the aid and encouragement of some friend, he will find that
the task is an interesting one, and he will be impressed
by the great accuracy which is necessary in attacking and
defending difficult positions.
With the knowledge obtained in this way, he will be
202 THE GAME OF GO
able to judge with far greater skill what to do when a po-
sition is threatened in actual play. He will be able to dis-
tinguish whether the danger is real, and whether it is,
therefore, necessary to reply to his adversary's attack, or
whether he can afford to ignore it and assume the "Sente"
in some other part of the board. He will also be able to
perceive when an adversary's group is vulnerable so that
it will be profitable to attack it.
The collection of problems which I have given in this
book are rearranged from Korschelt's work, and they were
in turn taken by him from a Japanese treatise called "Go
Kiyo Shiyu Miyo." Necessarily the collection here given is a
very small one, but if any reader of this book becomes so"
much interested in the game that he desires to study other
examples, he will doubtless find some Japanese acquaintance
who can supply him with further material, as the Japanese
literature of the game contains large collections.
The most important kind of problems are those in which
the question is how to kill an adversary's group, or how to
save one's own group when threatened. It is also often
very important to know how a connection between two
groups can be forced.
For greater clearness these problems are arranged under
seven heads; to wit,
i. Saving Threatened Groups.
2. Killing Groups.
3. Playing for "Ko."
The advantage gained by this operation is not appar-
ent in the group itself, but depends upon which player has
the larger threatened group elsewhere.
4. Reciprocal Attacks or "Semeai."
PROBLEMS 203
This is a combination of the first two kinds of prob-
lems, and it only differs from them in that both players have
comparatively strong groups which are so intertwined that
both cannot live, and the question is, which can kill the other
first.
5. Connecting Groups.
The problem here is to force a connection between a
small group having insufficient " Me" and some larger group.
6. "Oi OTOSHI."
This really means a "robber's attack." It ariseswhere
a group is apparently engulfed by the opponent, and when,
by adding further stones to it which the opponent must
take, the threatened player can force his opponent to aban-
don a part of his surrounding chain in order not to sustain
greater losses. The attack is so sudden and unexpected
that the Japanese compare it to the methods of a highway-
man. It is an example of the finest play in the game.
7. Cutting.
This is another method of escape, and the problem is
to cut off and kill part of the adversary's surrounding chain.
In the following examples the side having the first
move is given in italics.
I. Saving Threatened Groups
1. (Plate 40, A) White, Q.18, R 18, S 16, 17, 18.
Black, O 17, P 18, Q17, R 15, 17, S 15.
2. (Plate 40, B) White, O 3, Q.3, 4, R 3, 5, S 5.
Black, R 2, 4, S 3, 4.
3. (Plate 40, C) White, A 14, B 11, 13, C 13, 14, 15, 17, D 17, 18, E 16,
F17.
Black, A 13, B 14, 15, 17, 18, C 16, 18.
2o4 THE GAME OF GO
4. (Plate 40, D) White, B 3, C 3, D 2, E 2.
Black, B 4, C 4, D 3) E 3, F 2, G 3.
5. White, B 5, C 4, D 5, E 2, 3, 4, G 2.
5/ar*, B3, 4, D2, 3, E 1.
6. White, B 12, 13, 15, 16, C 13, 15, D 13, 14.
Black, A 16, B 11, 17, C 10, 12, 16, D 12, 15, 16, E 13, 14.
7. White, M 16, 17, N 16, O 15, 17, P 14, 17, Q.18, R 14, S 15.
^sf-Black, N 17, O 16, P 16, Q.16, R 16, S 16, 18 .
8. White, O 1, P 2, Q.2, 3, R 3, S 3, 4.
Black, N 2, O 2, P 1, 3, 4, 0.4, R 4, 6, S 5, T 4.
9. White, A 4, B 5, 6, C 4) D 5, E 2, 3, 4.
Black, A 5, B 3, 4, C 3, D 2, 3.
10. White, B 15, 16, C 17, 18, D 18.
Black, A 15, B 14, C 14, 15, 16, D 17, E 17, 18.
11. White, L 18, M 16, 17, N 14, 18, O 13, 19, P 18, Q12, 13, 17, 18, R 12,
14, 18, S 14, 17, 19.
Black, N 17, O 15, 17, 18, P 14, 17, Q.14, 15, 16, R 13, 16, 17, S 13,
18.
12. White, Q.3, R 2, 3, S 3.
Black, P 2, 3, 5, Q.2, 4, R 5, 7.
13. White, B2, C3, D 1, 3, E2.
Black, B 4, C 5, D 4, E 3, 4, F 1, 2, G 3.
14. White, A 16, B 15, C 15, 16, D 17, E 17, F 18, G 18.
Black, B 16, 17, C 17, D 18, E 18, F 19.
. 15. White, Q.15, R 14, 15, 16, S 17.
Black, P 15, 17, Q.13, 14, 16, R 11, 12, 17, 18.
16. White, R 3, 4, 5, S 2.
Black, O 3, P3,Q.4,6,R6,S6,T3.
17. White, B 4, C 3, 4, 5, E 4, F 2, 3, H 2.
Black, B 3, C 2, D 3, E 2, F i.
18. White, C 13, 15, 16, 17, E 14, 15, 16.
Black, B 14, 15, C 12, 14, D 13, 17, E 12, 17, F 15, 16, G 13. ,
19. White, M 17, N 18, O 17, 19, P 15, 17, R 14, 16, S 16.
Black, O 18, P 18, Q.16, 17, R 17, S 17.
20. White, P 2, 3, 6, Qz, 4, R 2, 4, 6, 7.
Black, Q.3, R 1,3, 9, S2, 4, 5-
PROBLEMS
205
ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPORST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
s
rSi/Wv^
C
A
:
3LAC
K5W
OVE
WHI
TE$
W\*l
1
B
D
:
3LAC
kSsn
OVE
WH1"
"ESt-
IOVE
r
r
~^m
r
>
>
&z
L
Ti
rl
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 40
206 THE GAME OF GO
21. White, B 13, 14, 16, C 13, D 13, 14, 15, 18, E 16, 17.
Black, B 15, C 14, 15, 17, 18, D 16.
22. White, C 7, D 3, 5, 6, E 2, 3, 7, F 5.
Black, C 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, D 2, E 8, F 2, 8, G 3, 5, 6, J 3.
23. White, O 2, 3, 4, 6, Q.4, R 4, 6, S 5, T 4.
Black, P 2, 3, R 3, S 3, 4.
24. #7>^, Q_i7, R 16, 17, S 18.
Black, N 17, O 17, P 16, Q_i6, R 15, S 16, 17.
II. Killing Groups
1. (Plate 41, A) White, O 17, P 18, Q14, 15, 16, 17, R 13, S 13, 14, 15.
Black, Q18, R 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, S 16, T 15.
2.. (Plate 41, B) White, P 5, Qj, R 2, 5, S 5, 6.
Black, O 2, P 3, 4, 6, Q_2, 5, R 6, 7, S 8.
3. (Plate 41, C) White, B 15, 18, C 16, 17.
Black, B 14, C 14, D 15, 16, 17, 18.
4. (Plate 41, D) White, B 4, C 3, 4, E 1, 3, F 2, 4, G 2.
Black, A 3, B 2, 3, C 2, D 2, E 2, F 1.
5. White, B 4, C 4, D 3, E 3, F 2, G 3.
Black, A3, B3, C2, D2, E2.
6. White, B 16, C 10, D 13, 15, 16, 17.
Black, B 14, C 12, 15, D 18, E 12, F 14, 15, 17, G 17.
7. White, P 17, 18, Q.15, 16, R 13, 15.
Black, Q.17, 18, R 16, S 16.
8. White, Q_i, R 2, 3, 5, S5.
Black, O 2, Q,23 3, 4, 5, 6, R 7, S 7.
9. White, B 5, C 5, 8, D 5, E 2, 4, F 2, 3, 4.
Black, B 4, C 4, D 2, 3, E 3.
10. White, B 15, C 15, 17, 18.
Black, B 14, C 12, 14, D 15, 16, 17, F 17.
11. White, M 16, O 15, 16, 18, P 18, Q_i4, R 12, 15, 18, S 16.
Black, L 16, P 16, 17, Q_i6, 18, S 17, 18.
12. White, Q_2, R 2, S 3, 4, 5.
Black, P 2, 3, Q.3, R 4, 5, 7> S 6.
13. White, B 4, C 4, 6, D 4, E 3, F 3, G 2, H 3.
Black, B 3, C 3, D 3, E 2, F 2.
PROBLEMS
207
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
19 . — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
r
>
K.
c
A
^ |BLA
CK5
MOV
E
W
MTE
'SM
OVE
B
I
LAC
KS
Af3\
£
D
W
HIT
i'S N
OVE
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
A B C D E F
G H J K L M
Plate 4. 1
N O P O R S T
I
208 THE GAME OF GO
14. White, C 17, 18, E 16, 17, F 15, G 16, H 16, 17, K 16.
Black, B 17, 18, C 16, D 14, 16, 17, E 13, 15, G 14, 15, 17, J 14, 15,
K, 17, L16.
15. White, N 17, P 16, 17, 18, Q.15, R 13, 15, S 14.
Black, Q.16, 17, 18, R 16, S 15.
16. White, P 2, Q.2, R 3.
Black, N 3, O 3, Q.3, 4, R 5-
17. White, B 16, 17, C 17, D 18, 19.
Black, C 12, 14, 16, D 16, 17, E 18, F 17.
18. JFfcite, H 3, K 3, 4, M 3, N 4, O 2, P 3, 4, 0.6, R 5, S 1, \.
Black, Pi, 2, Q.3, R 2, 3, S3.
19. JF£ffe, M 17, O 16, 17, P 15, R 13, 15, S 15, 16.
Black, P16, Q16, 18, R 16, S 17.
III. Playing for "Ko"
1. (Plate 42, A) White, O 16, P 17, 18, Q.16, R 14, 16, S 15.
Black, Q.17, 18, R 17, S 16.
2. (Plate 42, B) White, O 4, 5, P 2, 3, 6, R 2, 6, 7, S 3, 5.
Black, L 3, N 3, O 3, P 4, 0.4, R 4, 9, S 4, 7, T 4.
3. (Plate 42, C) JP&ifc, B16, 17, C18.
Black, C 13, 15, 16, 17, D 18, E 17.
4. (Plate 42, D) White, B 4, C 4, D 4, E 3, 4, F 2, G 4.
A/a*:*, C 2, 3, D 3, E 2.
5. 0te, B 4, C 4, D 3, E 3, F 2, 3.
Black, B3, Ci,3, D2, E2.
6. White, C 15, 16, 17, D 18.
Black, B 14, C 12, 14, D 15, 16, 17, E 18, F 17.
7. White, P 17, 18, Q.17, R 15, 16, S 15.
Black, Q18, R 17, 19, S 16, 17.
8. /Tto, 03> R 3. s 4-
Black, O 3, P 3, Q.4, R 4, 6, S 5.
9. White, B 5, C 4, 5, E 4, F 4, H 2, 4, 5, J 3-
Black, B3,4,D3,E3,F3,G3.
10. JPfcrt*, B 15, 16, C 17, 18, D 19.
Black, B 14, 18, C 14, 15, D 16, 18, E 18, F 16.
PROBLEMS
209
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
*
fc_
_r
i
r
b
r^
^
P
L
\
l
iw
c:
A
,„
WH
its,
MO1
m
BLA
ZKSI
10VE
^
B
D
BLA
CKS
10V
E
BLA
ck's
MOV
1
fV
V
-C
s
A.
i
1*
<
J
ff
rv.
ic
s
%
K
?
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 42
210 THE GAME OF GO
11. White, N 17, O 18, P 16, 17, Q.16, R 16, S 16.
Black, P18, Q.17, R 17, S 17.
12. F/>i>*5 P 2, Q.2, R 3, 4, S 2.
Black, M 3,0 3, P3, Q.5, R5, S3, 4, T2.
13. White, A 2, B 3, 4, C 5, D 4, 5, F 4, G 2, 3.
Black, B 2, C 3, 4, D 3, E 3, F 2.
14. FAz'te, C 15, 16, 17, D 16.
Black, C 14, D 14, 15, 17, 18, E 16, F 17.
15. White, N 17, O 18, P 16, 17, Q.15, R 15, S 16.
5/«r£, P18, Q.16, 17, S 17.
16. White, R 2, 4, S 3.
Black, O 3, P4, 0.2, 4, R5, 6, S4.
IV. Reciprocal Attacks (" Semeai ")
1. (Plate 43, A) White, N 17, P 17, Q.17, R 17, S 18.
Black, Q.18, R 14, 16, 18, S 16, 17.
2. (Plate 43, B) White, O 3, P 2, Q.2, R 3, S 3, 5.
5/ar£, Q_3, 4, R 2, 6, S 2, 7.
3. (Plate 43, C) White, B 15, 16, C 15, 17, 18, D 17, E 18.
Black, B 17, C 16, D 16, 18, E 16, 17, F 18.
4. (Plate 43, D) White, B 2, 3, 4, C 5, D 3, 4, 6, F 3, G 2, 3.
Black, B 5, 6, C 2, 3, 4, 7, D 2, E 2, F 2.
5. »to, B 3, C 2, 3, 4, D 4, E 3, F 3, G 2, 3.
Black, A 3, 5, B 4, 6, C 5, D 2, 3, 5, E 2, 4, 5, F 2.
6. White, B 14, 15, 16, 19, C 15, 17, 18, D 18, E 17, F 17.
Black, B 13, 17, 18, C 13, 14, 16, D 15, 16, 17, E 14.
7. White, N 17, O 17, Q.16, 17, R 18, S 18.
Black, P18, Q.15, 18, R 15, 17, S 17.
8. White, P 2, 4, 0.2, 6, R 3, 7, S 3, 6.
5/a^, N 3, O 2, 3, P 3, Q.3, R 4, 5, S 4.
9. White, A 4, B5,C5, 7, D2,3, 5, E3,4.
Black, B 3, 4, C 2, 4, D 4, 6, E 5, 6, F 2, 4, G 3.
10. White, B 13, 14, 15, C 15, 18, D 16, 17, 18.
Black, B 12, 16, C 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, D 15, E 15.
11. White, O 2, 4, P 2, 4, Q,2, 3, 5, R 5, 7, S 4.
5/^, M 3, N 2, 3, O 3, P3,0.4, R3.4.
PROBLEMS
211
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19 i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
1
c
A
BLA
CKS
MOV
E
1
*vHr
re's
*0\
E
B
I)
BLA
CKS
40V
E
i* T
WHI
TE'S
MOV
E
^
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 43
212 THE GAME OF GO
12. White, Q.H, 12, 13, R II, 14, 15, S 16, T 14.
Black, Q.14, 15, R 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, S 11, 13.
V. Connecting Groups
1. (Plate 44, A) White, K 14, 16, 18, L 18, M 13, N 13, 15, O 16, P 14,
17-
Black, M 16, 18, N 14, 17, Q_i4, 15, 16, R 17.
2. (Plate 44, B) White, N 5, O 4, 6, P 4, Q.3, 8, R 3, 8, S 3, 4, 7, 9-
Black, N6, P5, 6, 8, 9, R 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, S 5.
3. (Plate 44, C) White, C 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, D 14, 17, E 18, G 17.
Black, B 10, C 9, 16, 17, D 10, 13, 15, E 11, 14, F 13,
16.
4. (Plate 44, D) White, C 2, 3, 5, 6, E 7, G 3, 5, H 3, 5.
Black, D 3, 5, E 5, F 3, 6, G 6, J 4, 7, K 3, 6.
5. White, A 2, B 2, 5, C 6, D 3, E 5, 7, F 5, G 2, 3.
5/af£, C 1, 2, 3, 4, D 4, G 5, H 2, 3, 4.
6. #%/>*, B 13, 17, C 13, 17, D 13, 16, 17, E 17, F 17.
Black, B 15, C 10, 14, 16, D 11, E 14, 16, F 12, 14.
7. White, M 2, 3, P 2, 3, R 2, 3, 4, S 5, 6.
Black, N 4, P4, Q.2,3,4, 6, R 5, S 2, 3.
8. White, M 13, 15, N 11, O 10, 15, P 13, Q9, 14, R 10, 15, S 12, 16.
Black, O 12, 17, P 12, Ql6, R II, 12, 13, 17, S 13, 17.
9 White, B 2, 3, C 2, 4, D 6, F 4, 7, G 3, 5, H 3, 5, J 6, K 5, L 4.
5/flfj&, C 3, D 2, 3, E 3, 5, F 3, G 4, J 4, 5, K 4, L 3, M 3.
10. White, C 12, 17, D 9, 14, 18, E 10, 12, 13, 17, F 17, G 15, H 12, 14.
Black, C 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, D 10, E 15, 16, F 13, 14.
11. White, H 17, J 17, K 17, N 15, O 15, 17, P 17.
Black, J 16, K 14, 16, M 14, 16, N 16, O 13, Q14, 17, R 16.
12. White, Q8, 9, R 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, S 2.
Black, P 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, Q,2, 5, 10, R 2, 7, S 1.
VI. "Or otoshi"
1. (Plate 45, A) White, P 18, 0,15, 16, 17, R 17, 18, S 17.
Black, O 17, 18, P 14, 16, Q.14, R 14, 16, S 16, 18, T 17.
2. (Plate 45, B) White, N 5, O 4, P 3, 4, 6, Q.2, R 2, 7, S 3, 4, 6, T 5.
Black, M 4, N 2, 4, O 3, P 1, 2, Q.3, 5, R 3, 5, S 5-
PROBLEMS
213
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
19 . — r-n — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — r— 1 — 1 — 1— 1 19
18
1/
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
_A_
4fe
^
W
c
BLA
CK5
MO1
VTE
A
BLA
ck's
40V
E
D
B
WH1
TES
M0\
HE
WH1
te's
viovk 2
Jfc
*K
fc
1
P
r
^Oy^
K
Jv.
JK
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
t
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPORST
Plate 44
214
THE GAME OF GO
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19
18
17
16(
15
14
13
12
II
10
A
WE
ITE
5 M
OVE
c
BLACK
JsmJove
D
B
WH
TElS
MC
>VE
BU
lCKS
MO
VE
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
Plate 45
PROBLEMS 215
3. (Plate 45, C) White, A 16, B 13, 15, 17, 18, C 14, 19, D 16, 17, 18,
E 13, 16, F 16, G 14, 15.
Black, B 16, C 15, 16, 17, 18, D 15, E 15, F 15, 17, G 16,
17-
4. (Plate 45, D) White, B 3, C 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, D 2, E 3, F 2.
Black, A 3, B 2, 4, 5, 6, C 2, 7, D 7, E 4, 6, F 4, G 2, 3.
5. White, A 3, B 4, C 4, D 3, 4, F 2, 3, 4.
Black, B 3, C 3, 5, 6, D 2, E 2, 6, F 1, G 2, +) 5, H 3.
6. White, A 18, B 15, 17, C 14, 18, D 14, 19, E 14, 18, F 15, 18, G 19,
H 16, 17, 18.
Black, A 16, B 16, 18, C 16, D 15, 17, 18, E 17, F 17, G 17, 18.
7. White, P 5, 6, Q.3, 4, 9, R 3, 9, S 4, 5> 7> 8, T 6.
Black, N 4, P 2, 3, 4, 05> R 4> 5. 6> 7, 8» s 6.
8. JP&iw, Oj6, 17, 18, R 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, S 16.
Black, O 17, P 12, 15, iS, Oj3> x5> R I2> J7> S 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, T 16.
9. White, A 3, 4, B 4, 6, C 2, 3, 5, D 1, 3, E 3, F 3, G 3, H 3, J 2, 3.
Black, B 1, 2, 3, C 1, 4, D 2, 4, E 2, 4, F 2, 5, G 2, H 2, 5, J 1, K 2,
3, 4-
10. White, A 9, 12, B 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, C 8, 15, D 9, 15, E 11, 13,
Black, A 18, B 9, 12, 18, C 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, D 14, 17, E 15, 16.
11. White, H 17, J 15, 18, L 14, 15, M 14, N 15, 16, 17, O 17, 18, P 17,
Q.I7-
Black, K 17, L 16, M 15, 16, 18, N 14, 18, O 14, 19, P 18, OJ5> 18,
R 16, 17.
12. White, O 4, 6, P 2, 3, 8, 09> R 4, 5, 6, 9, S 3, 4, 7, 9, T 7, 8.
Black, O3, 4, 5, 6, 7, R 3, 7, 8, S 2, 6, 8, T 2.
VIE Cutting
1. (Plate 46, A) White, C 15, D 17, 18, E 15, 17, G 18, H 18, J 13, K 13,
14, 15. l6» J7> l8-
Black, E 18, F 12, 17, 18, G 13, 15, 17, H 12, J 11, 14,
L 12, 16, 18, M 14, 16, N 18.
2. (Plate 46, B) White, J 3, K 5, 6, L 3, 4, 7, P 3, 5, 7, 0.2, 3, 9> R 6-
Black, L 5, 8, M 3, 8, N 3, 5, 7, O 3, 8, P 2.
3. White, C 15, D 18, E 13, 1 5, 16, 17, H 18, J 12, 15, 17, K 13, 14, 15, 17.
2l6
THE GAME OF GO
ABCDEFGHJ KLMNOPQRST
19 i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 1 — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
A
A
WH]
rE's
MOVE
r
~^
L
J
R
WH
rre's
MOV
E
r
>
•
D
L
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
A B C D E F
G H J K L
Plate 46
MNOPORST
PROBLEMS 217
Black, E 18, F 12, 13, 17, 18, G 15, 17, H 12, 13, J n, 14, L 12, 16, 17,
M 14.
4. White, H 5, 7, 9, 10, J 3, K 3, 5, 7, 9, L 2, 3, M 2, 9, O 4, 6, 7, 8, Qj,
R3-
fl/ac*, G 5, 6, 7, 9, H 3, 4, 8, J 2, M 3, 5, 7, N 2, 3, 5, 7, P 2, Q.2.
SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS
I. Saving Threatened Groups
1. T 19.
2. T2, S 1, T4, Q.2, R 1.
3. A 18, A 16, B 16.
4. B2, Ci, Bi, Di, C2.
5. A 2, B 1, A 4 or A 2, A 4, B 1.
6. C 17, C 18, D 17, E 17, B 18, D 18, A 18, B 19, A 12, A 14, B 14.
7. O 18, N 18, Q.17, R 18, P 18, N 17, R 17, O 19, R 19, P 19, T 17 or
O 18, P 18, R 18, or O 18, R 18, P 18.
8. S2, R 1, S 1.
9. B 1, A 2, B2.
10. A 17, B 19, B 18, A 14, C 19, A 16, A 19, B 17, B 16.
11. T 16, T 18, T 14 or T 16, S 12, T 18.
12. S5, S6,T5.
13. C 1.
14. B 19.
15. S 18, S 19, S 13, T 18, S 15, T 17, T 14 or S 18, S 13, T 16.
16. S 5, T 5, T 4, S 4, T 2, T 6, Q.2, or S 5, T 5, T 4, S 4, T 2, Q.2, S 3,
T4, T6, T4, T5, Si, S 8.
17. A3, B i,B2, E3,A 1, A 2, C 1.
18. F 17, G 17, F 18, G 18, D 18, E 18, D 19, E 19, D 16, F 19, B 19, A 18,
B 18, A 17, D 14, C 18, B 17, C 19, B 16, or F 17, G 17, F 18, G 18,
D 18, E 18, D 19, E 19, D 16, F 19, B 19, C 18, B 18.
19. Q.15, Qj4, R 15, S 15, T 16, S 14, Q.19, T 17, S 18, N 19, R 19.
20. T3, S6, T5, S3, R3.
21. A 16, A 17, A 15, B 18, B 19, B 17, A 18, A 19, C 19.
22. C 3, B 3, B 2, B 1, A 2, A 3, B 6, B 5, A 5, A 1, D 4, B 4, B 8, E 1,
B9.
2i8 THE GAME OF GO
23. S i, T2, T 3j P i, Q.i, Q.2, Q.3, R i, R 2.
24. T 17, S 15, R 19.
II. Killing Groups
1. Q.19, S 18, T 17, T 16, R 19, S 19, T 18, P 19, Q_i9.
2. S 2, Q.4, O 5, R 3, R 1, S 1, T 1, S 3, T 4, T 3, S4, or S 2, R 1, R 4,
R 3, Q.4, S 4, S 3-
3. B 19, C 19, C 18, A 19, A 17.
4. A 1, D 1, B 1.
5. Bi, B2, A 1, E 1, Ci.
6. C 14, E 18, C 18, E 17, B 17, C 16, A 17, A 16, B 19 or C 14, C 18,
E 18, B 18, C 16, C 17, A 16, A 15, A 17, B 15, C 19, B 19, A 18 or
C 14, C 18, E 18, C 16, B 19, C 19, B 18, B 15, A 15.
7. S 18, R 18, S 19, R 19, S 17, R 17, S 15.
8. T5, T4, R4, S4, S2, S3, T2.
9. B 2, A 2, C 2, D 1, A 4, A 3, A 5, B 3, B 1, D 4, C 1 or B 2, B 3, C 2,
D 1, A 2, B 1, A 4, A3, D 4.
10. A 15, A 17, D 18, C 16, A 16, B 16, B 18 or A 15, B 16, D 18.
11. R 19, P 14, O 13, O 17, N 18, R 17, P 19.
12. T2,T5,T3, Q.I.S2, R3, S i,orT2,T5, T 3, S 2, Q_i,R i,Ti.
13. F 1, D 1, A 3, A 2, B 1, C 1, G 1, B 2, D 2, C 2, E 1.
14. L 18, G 18, H i9,D 18, E i9orL 18, D 18, F 18, G 18, F 17, E 18, H 18.
15. S 17, S 16, S 19, R 18, S 18, T 18, T 17, T 16, Q.19, R 19, P 19.
16. S 3, S 2, S 4, T 2, O 2, P 1, R 1, R 2, S 1.
17. B 19, B 18, E 19, C 18, B 15.
18. R 1, N 2, O 3, O 1, M 1, M 2, Q_i, L 2, N 1, L 1, N 1, M 1, T 3, T 2,
T4,
19. S 18, T 17, R 17, R 18, T 18, Q.17, T 16, R 17, P 18.
III. Playing for "Ko"
1. S 18, T16, T17.
2. P 1, O 2, T 2, T 3, Q.2, Q.3, R 3, S 2, R 1, T 1, N 2 or P 1, Q.i, Q.3,
Q.2, S2, T 2, S 1, R 3, O2 or P_i, S 2, O 2, Q.i, S 6, S 8, R 5, R 8,
Q.3, Q.2, T3, T2, S 1.
3. A 18, C 19, B 19.
4. Di, B2, B3, A3, A 2, Ai,Bi.
PROBLEMS 219
5. A 2, B2, A3, E 1, B 1.
6. B 18, D 19, C 19.
7. T 18, S 18, P19, T19, Q.19.
8. S2, T4, T3.
9. C 3, C 2, B 1, A 2, E 1, F 1, F 2, E 2, G 1, A 4, C 1, D 1.
^10. A 18, A 17, B 19.
11. P 19, T 17, T 18, S 19, R 19, R 18, Q.18 or P 19, R 19, S 19, S 18, T 19
or P 19, S 18, T 18, R 18, Cm8, R 19, S 19.
12. R 1, S3, T 1.
13. C 1, D2, A 1.
14. B 14, B 13, B 18, A 14, A 17, C 18, A 15, B 15, B 16.
15. R 18, R 16, S 19, T 18, T 17, P 19, Q.19.
16. Q.3, P 2, S 5.
IV. Reciprocal Attacks ("Semeai")
1. S 19.
2. S4,R4,RiT4,T2,T3,T6.
3. Bjl8, D 19, B 19, C 19, F 19.
4. B 1.
5. B 1, A 2, F 1.
6. A 18.
7. T 18, R 19, R 16, S 16, S 15, S 14, P 17.
8. S2, R2, T3.
9. B 2, A 2, B 1, C 1, C 3, A 1, B 2, B 1, B 5.
10. A 16, A 17, B 18.
11. S 2, S3, R 2, T2, S 1.
12. T 12, T 11, S 10.
V. Connecting Groups
1. O 15, N 16, M 15, O 14, O 17 or O 15, P 15, P 18, CmS, P 16, O 17,
O 18,0.17,0 14.
2. T 5, T6, S 6, T 4, Q.5, 0.6, P 7, O 7, O 5, Q.7, R 5, 0.4, R 5, 0.5,
T3-
3. EJ5, E 16, Bvj, B 16, D 16, C 15, Aj6.
4. F 5, E 6, E 2, F 2, E 4, D 4, E 3, D 2, D 1.
5. F4, E4, F3, E3, F2.
220 THE GAME OF GO
6. A 15, A 16, B 16, A 14, C 15.
7. Q_i,S4, R i,03, N 1,02, O 1.
8. S 15, T 15, S 14, R 16, Q.15, R 14, P 14.
9. J2,H2,Hi,j3,K3,H4,Gi,F2,Fi.
10. F 12, F 11, D 11, E 11, B 17, B 18, B 11, B 12, A 12, B 13, B 14, A 13,
D12.
11. L 16, M 15, M 18, L 18, M 17, L 17, L 19.
12. S 8, S 7, T 7, R 8, Q7, S 9, R 9, R 6, T 8, Q.6, T 5 or S 8, S 7, T 7,
R 8, Q.7, R 9, S 9, T 6, Q.6.
VI. "Ol OTOSHl"
1. T 18, T 19, R 19.
2. S 2, S i, T 2, T 3, Q_i, T 1, S 2.
3. B 19, A 19, A 17, A 15, E 18.
4. A 2, A 1, A 4, A 5, D 1.
5. C2, B2, Bi,Ci, A 2.
6. B 19, C 19, C 17, A 19, B 18, B 19, A 17.
7. S 3, S 2, R 2, T 3, Q.2, S 3, T 5, Q.8, T 7, S 9, S 1, Q.7, T 2.
8. T 15, T 14, T 18, S 19, T 17, T 19, T 17, T 18, R 19, S 11, T 17, S 17.
9. H 1, G7, E 1, Fi, Di.
10. B15, A 15, A 13, A 14, A 17.
11. M 17, L 17, N 19, M 19, L 18, K 18, K 19, L 19, J 19.
12. T3, S5, T4.
VII. Cutting
1. G 16, F 16, G 14, F 14, F 15.
2. N 6, M 6, O 6, M 7, M 4.
3. G 16, F 16, G 14, H 15, F 15.
4. K 6, J 6, L 6, J 8, F 4.
RETURN CIRCUIATION DEPARTMENT
IS^RwH ?ABM.Sd H* 3-MONTHS. AND 1-YEAR.
RiNEWAUS: CALL (415) 642-3405
dueaOI^I^I^
04
V, N0. DD6, 60., 1 /B3 BERKELEY, CA 94720 »
lOW ^HP after _ QZC 2 8^1 9
uoan
,R'fS
C°3i^a
I
\
■
if**
•
s
CSV,--
*
_3
, \ . .
wn
US
■Pi
B9
KK8
ffiHfgwi
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11